The Robo-doctor will see you now

Say where it hurts to Robo-doc - the automated consultant that allows doctors to talk to their patients even if they are continents apart.

The invention can be moved around a hospital ward by a surgeon in another room, another hospital, or even another country. It means patients can consult international experts who cannot get to their bedside.

The machine, which resembles a sci-fi movie android, has a screen that shows the doctor's face via a remote camera. The patient and the medic can communicate through the screen. Known as Remote Presence, the system uses broadband and wireless technology, operating in a similar way to a webcam. Each robot costs £50,000.

Britain's first two Robo-docs - the unit's official title is the RP6 - are being tested on wards at St Mary's Hospital in Paddington and operated by medics based at Imperial College London in South Kensington.

With Robo-doc, surgeons can check the progress of patients after operations, allowing them to be discharged earlier and freeing beds.

Specialists can also use it to decide if a patient in A&E needs to be admitted - a process often slowed if doctors have to make their way from the other side of the hospital. The system could also be used to help teach junior staff.

Project leader Parv Sains, Research Fellow at Imperial College, said: "If a specialist is at a conference in California but their medical opinion is needed for a St Mary's patient, or to deliver a lecture to junior doctors, RP6 provides an instant and global link at any time of the day or night."

The Remote Presence system, developed by Californian company InTouch Health, is already in use in the USA and in mainland Europe. It has been introduced to Britain by Professor Sir Ara Darzi, head of Imperial College's Division of Surgery, Anaesthetics and Intensive Care and a surgeon at St Mary's.

He said: "It is a revolutionary concept. It is not uncommon for a patient to be waiting for the doctor to come to the ward so they can be discharged. With this they can be discharged but with the confidence they have seen and talked to the doctor."

And Robo-doc may soon be joined by Robo-nurse. A similar machine is being developed for monitoring patients' blood pressure, pulse and temperature.

Patients would wear a "smart surgical gown" with sensors that monitor their vital signs after surgery and transmit them to Robo-nurse using Bluetooth technology. The information could then be sent to the surgeon. This would free up time for human nurses, who often have to take patients' readings every half-hour after surgery.

Professor Darzi insisted the system would mean flesh-and-blood doctors would get more time for contact with patients, not less. "Patients often have questions after surgery but it is difficult to get the surgeon back to the hospital when he is working elsewhere. Patients would love to see the same surgeon again," he said.

Mr Sains promised the invention would not make humans redundant. "Our robots certainly would never replace all doctors on ward rounds," he said. "But if we look at a lot of the strains on the NHS, many senior doctors are required to be in several places at once. This may be a significant step for patient care."