The first robotic surgery at Faro Hospital was performed on November 20, marking a “decisive step towards innovation,” both in terms of performing less invasive procedures for patients and in terms of modernising services and encouraging the retention of professionals, highlighted the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS) in a statement.

This is “a milestone in the modernisation of healthcare in the region,” considered the Algarve health unit, highlighting that robotic surgery is “minimally invasive” for patients and provides “the most advanced technology to surgeons” for the treatment of “complex pathologies,” such as oncological ones.

This procedure is performed “with greater precision” and, being less invasive, has a faster post-surgical recovery and requires a shorter hospital stay.

“This technique has a clear advantage over the open technique. It is an added value for everyone,” said Miguel Cabrita, urologist and coordinator of Robotic Surgery at ULS Algarve, quoted in the ULS statement.

Alongside the advantages for the patient, this type of surgery also allows, according to the ULS, “bringing great surgeons to Faro Hospital” and retaining them in the National Health Service (SNS).

“Surgeons like to use the most modern technology, and now we have the most modern technology at Faro Hospital, which is known for its staff shortage. This is a great reward for those who are here and a great advantage for those who are undecided about whether to continue in the National Health Service (SNS) or not,” said the director of the Department of Surgery and the Urology Service of the São José Local Health Unit (ULS), Luís Campos Pinheiro, also quoted in the statement.

Pioneer

Luís Campos Pinheiro was a pioneer in the implementation of robotic surgery in the SNS, witnessed the first procedure performed in Faro, and considered that surgeons will now have, at the hospital in the Algarve district capital, “an opportunity that they will not have so easily in the private sector.”

The Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS Algarve) also quoted Aníbal Coutinho, director of the Department of Surgery and the Urology Service of the ULS Algarve, for whom the “existence of robotic surgery allows for greater efficiency,” with “more precision in the movement” and “immediate gains” in “more complex surgeries, which are oncological ones.”

In addition to Faro, the Algarve Local Health Unit (ULS) has been performing robotic surgeries at Portimão Hospital since April 2025, where more than 50 surgeries have already been carried out, including 14 total prosthectomies and approximately 30 surgeries of the stomach, abdominal wall, and colon, according to the Algarve health unit.

Robotic surgery was implemented in the two Algarve hospitals as part of the SNS Technological Modernization Program, with an investment of €4.1 million, financed by the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), said the ULS.