An extra early start for me on this particular assignment taking photographs for a feature on the use of robotic surgery at St. George’s Hospital. I never realised until now how much waiting around during surgery preparation there actually is… especially when the consultant who would lead the operation was delayed by traffic from Heathrow! A state of the art Da Vinci Robot was used for the procedure, which temporarily left the patient resembling a human pin cushion as various rods with the operating arms were inserted into them. The surgeon was at the back of the room peering through a magnifying camera, operating the machinery whilst assistants monitored the patient and attendees watched the operating screen from the back of the room. For a lay person it was hard to get a gist of what was actually going on but it was an exciting if surreal process all the same.