In 2015, we contributed £4.2m towards Royal Brompton's state-of-the-art Hybrid Operating Theatre, which has seen a reduction in the time patients spend in hospital following surgery fall by 50%

The hybrid theatre combines the environment of an operating theatre with the imaging capabilities of a catheter laboratory.

The facility is the largest of its kind in Europe and incorporates the most modern theatre equipment found anywhere in the UK. The advanced imaging technology, operating table and integrated computer software work together, which means operations can be planned in advance in unprecedented detail.

The new operating theatre enables doctors to carry out different procedures for a patient in the same session, rather than interventions being staged over a period of time and several hospital visits. 

Patients spend less time in hospital, benefit from shorter recovery times and experience less pain and scarring.

Dr Richard Grocott-Mason, medical director at Royal Brompton & Harefield NHS Foundation Trust, explains:

The hybrid operating theatre provides our specialist teams with the latest cutting-edge technology and means current and future patients will benefit from pioneering treatments. It supports our ongoing commitment to deliver a multidisciplinary approach to patient care and offer world-class specialist treatments that are not widely available elsewhere.