We ask... the rise of robosurgeons: revolution or rip-off?

Robotic surgeons are on the march. Across the NHS they are taking over thousands of operations from their human counterparts for prostate cancer or kidney and bladder surgery. Science fiction has become science fact. The machines, with their pinpoint-accurate computer-controlled arms, are being introduced in the belief that they can perform minute surgical tasks such as cutting and stitching far more effectively than quiver-fingered humans, and with less risk of bleeding from excessive incisions or poor suturing. There are now around 60 such robots, of a type called'da Vinci', in NHS hospitals.