Many patients continue to be steered towards radical prostatectomy as the most viable and best treatment option available. However, some professionals have gone as far as to argue that robotic surgery is a scam, declaring that surgery fails to save lives and leaves men with unsatisfactory outcomes. The opinions of healthcare professionals will continue to influence the treatments that patients choose.

As such, it is imperative that patient choice remains key. That demands accurate, informed discussion about the pros and cons of every treatment, from outcomes to process.

All treatments for prostate cancer approved by NICE, including radical prostatectomy, have a role to play in treating prostate cancer. One thing that hasn’t changed in the last 70 years, is the intimacy of prostate cancer. But with more men being diagnosed, it is important that patients try to put their embarrassment aside in order to discuss their symptoms and treatment options at length. With today’s advances in treatment and bearing in mind the ethos upon which the NHS was founded, patients should be given equitable access to, or at least be informed of, all suitable treatment options.