(March 13, 2026) Padma Shri awardee Dr Prokar Dasgupta OBE has spent more than three decades in Britain building a career defined by surgical firsts. From pioneering robotic urology and developing the widely adopted “Dasgupta technique” for overactive bladder, he has now added another milestone by performing the UK’s first long-distance robotic operation, creating new possibilities for access to specialised care.
Inside the operating theatre at St Bernard’s Hospital in Gibraltar, a patient diagnosed with prostate cancer lay prepared for surgery. Around him stood doctors and medical staff from the Gibraltar Health Authority, monitoring the procedure and ready to intervene if required. Beside the operating table stood a surgical robot, its mechanical arms poised with precision.
But the surgeon guiding those instruments was not in the room. Nearly 1,500 miles away in London, Dr Prokar Dasgupta sat at a surgical console at The London Clinic, directing the robot’s movements in real time. Through a high-speed connection linking the two locations, every movement of his hands translated instantly into delicate surgical actions inside the patient’s body.
When the procedure was completed, Dasgupta reflected on the moment with a sense of wonder. “It’s a historic moment. This is the first telesurgery procedure from The London Clinic to St Bernard’s Hospital in Gibraltar, 2,400 kilometres away, ” he exclaimed, “It was almost as though I was there. The time delay between the two sites was 0.06 seconds.”
The operation demonstrated how surgical expertise could travel across distance. “The robot has four arms. We have a 3D high-definition camera,” he said about the view, remarking that the prostate of the patient appeared magnified and looked about the size of a football.
Dr Prokar Dasgupta conducting the robotic surgery using the Toumai Robotic System | Image Credit: BBC
A breakthrough treatment
For patients living in smaller territories or remote communities, access to specialised treatment can often depend on geography.
Gibraltar, a British Overseas Territory at the southern tip of Europe, has just one hospital. The St Bernard’s Hospital serves the entire territory’s population. While it provides a wide range of medical services, certain complex surgical procedures have traditionally required patients to travel abroad, often to the United Kingdom.
For someone diagnosed with prostate cancer, that journey could involve flights, waiting lists, weeks away from home and recovery far from family leading to higher overall costs. Remote robotic surgery now offers the possibility for patients to remain in their local hospital while specialist surgical expertise is delivered from miles away. Its a breakthrough that made this operation the UK’s first of its kind.
Dasgupta has emphasised the potential of this model for communities far from major surgical centres, mentioning, “This gives us the opportunity to treat patients in remote areas and smaller communities by literally being able to take the best surgeon anywhere,” he said.
Robotics changing the way surgery is performed
Robotic surgery has steadily transformed modern surgical practice over the past two decades. During his career, Dasgupta has witnessed how dramatically the technology has spread. When he began performing robotic prostate surgery roughly two decades ago, only a small proportion of such procedures in the UK were carried out robotically.
Today, instead of the large incisions common in traditional open surgery, robotic systems allow surgeons to perform complex procedures through small keyhole cuts using robotic instruments guided from a console that provides a magnified three-dimensional view of the surgical field.
Dr Dasgupta has often addressed a common misconception surrounding robotic surgery. The robot, he explains, does not replace the surgeon. It simply acts as an interface that translates the surgeon’s hand movements into highly precise actions inside the patient’s body. The benefits for patients can include less blood loss, less pain and quicker recovery after surgery. Even as robotics advances, he remains cautious about the idea of completely automated surgery. For him, technology is not replacing the surgeon’s role but refining it.
There’s a misconception that perhaps we are ready for complete automation in surgery. I don’t think this is going to happen in the near future.
Dr Prokar Dasgupta
Career milestones with several firsts
The Gibraltar operation is the latest milestone in a career defined by innovation. Professor Dasgupta began his journey as a clinician-scientist more than three decades ago researching the immunology of Leishmaniasis, laying the foundation for a career that blends science with surgical practice.
After graduating from Medical College Kolkata in 1989, he moved to the UK for advanced training. In 2002 he became consultant urologist at Guy’s Hospital, and in 2009 was appointed Britain’s first Professor of Robotic Surgery and Urological Innovation at King’s College London, helping establish the country’s leadership in robotic surgery. He later chaired the King’s-Vattikuti Institute of Robotic Surgery, training surgeons in advanced robotic techniques.
In 2020 he was named Foundation Professor of Surgery at King’s Health Partners. At Guy’s Hospital, he has also helped pioneer robotic urological surgery in the UK while promoting surgical simulation training to improve patient safety worldwide.
The science behind the ‘Dasgupta technique’
Dr Dasgupta’s academic contributions have been equally significant. Between 2013 and 2020 he served as Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Urology International (BJUI), transforming the nearly century-old publication into one of the most widely read surgical journals online.
His research focuses on the immunology of prostate cancer and on developing innovative treatments for urological diseases. Among his notable contributions is a minimally invasive technique using botulinum toxin injections into the bladder wall to treat overactive bladder. Its procedure that later became widely known as the Dasgupta technique and has helped millions of patients globally.
Recognition for his work has followed internationally. His honours include the Fellowship of the Linnaean Society in 2017, the Fellowship of King’s College in 2018, the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2022, and an OBE in 2023 for services to surgery and science.
Inspired by his grandfather
The foundations of Dr Prokar Dasgupta’s career were laid much earlier, within his own family. Born in Rourkela in Odisha to a Bengali Baidya family, he spent part of his childhood in Lucknow before moving to Kolkata for higher education. He attended St Xavier’s College and later studied medicine at the historic Medical College Kolkata. In his formative years Dr Dasgupta’s grandfather played a significant role in shaping his career path.
I was inspired by my granddad, who was a doctor and very good with his hands. Early on I realised that a craft specialty like surgery would be the one for me.
Dr Prokar Dasgupta
During his training years in Kolkata, watching accomplished surgeons at work reinforced that path. Teachers and mentors demonstrated how surgical skill could combine craftsmanship with scientific curiosity. After completing his FRCS in 1994, he went on to earn a Master’s degree in urology in 1996 as a Medical Research Council Fellow, followed by an FRCS in Urology in 2000 and an MD from the University of London in 2001.
Technology evolving, trust remaining
Across more than three decades in surgery, Dr Prokar Dasgupta has seen medicine transform dramatically. “When I started it was all open surgery,” he said. “For kidneys it was a big slash, nearly a foot-long, in your side.”
Keyhole techniques gradually replaced large incisions, and robotic systems further refined surgical precision. Yet even as technology reshapes the operating theatre, Dasgupta believes one element of medicine will remain unchanged.
I think the one thing that will remain constant, not just for 50 years but for 100 years, is the surgeon-patient relationship. “The patient looking into a surgeon’s eyes and thinking — ‘I trust you to look after me’. I don’t think that’s going to change, however much technology transforms the way we perform surgery.
Professor Prokar Dasgupta
The recent operation connecting London and Gibraltar offered a glimpse of how that relationship might extend beyond physical distance, allowing specialised surgical care to reach patients wherever they are.
Reflecting on the achievement, Dr Dasgupta emphasised its broader impact. “I think it is very, very exciting,” he said. “The humanitarian benefit is going to be significant.”
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