A trailblazing surgeon who became the first female President of the Royal College of Surgeons has ‘cut the ribbon’ on a state-of-the-art operating theatre at a Birmingham hospital which is already providing great benefits to patients.

Clare Marx was the guest of honour as she officially opened the new £4 million hybrid operating theatre at Heartlands Hospital, part of Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

The theatre, one of only three of its kind in the UK and a first in the Midlands, opened its doors to patients last autumn and as a result opened the door for world class treatments and training at Heartlands.

Miss Marx said she was ‘extremely impressed’ with the new facility and stressed it was important for investment to continue in new technology and improving patient care.

She said: “I was pleased to be asked to open this wonderful new facility – it is terrific for the patients and also for the staff as it is a world class environment for them to work in.

“I believe it is vitally important that we continue to invest in improving our services with new technology and striving to be the best. We should aim to be the place in Europe where the most talented people want to train and work, as well as to provide the best possible care for the communities we serve.”

The theatre centres around the GE Discovery 740 robotic machine which utilises 3D technology and can be used for a range of specialist procedures including keyhole endovascular aneurysm repair.

The development has supported the hospital to become the regional centre for vascular surgery, as well as make room for an expansion of the hospital’s interventional radiology service.

Martin Claridge, clinical director for vascular surgery at the Trust, said: “The hybrid theatre has already made a massive difference to the patients we are able to treat, as well as increasing surgical capacity across the Trust for all specialties so it really has been win-win.

“We have the busiest complex endovascular service in Europe achieving outstanding results and this world class facility enables us to treat our patients in a safe high quality environment and gives us so many opportunities in terms of training the next generation of vascular surgeons.

“It has been fantastic to have Clare visit and officially open the theatre and see first-hand how exceptional this facility is and we were able to showcase just what it offers for the hospital and for our patients.”