Hi. You've ended up on this page because you're thinking of donating to charity. Thanks - you automatically rock!

What would make you rock even further, however, would be if you threw a bunch of money at the Liverpool Heart & Chest Hospital's robotic cardiothoracic surgery fund. It's not exactly curing cancer or heart disease but it.... oh, wait, no, hang on. It is.

Although I'm ridiculously biased (1), I think the lives saved by offering heart and lung surgery to patients is phenomenal. Cancer and heart disease are the two biggest killers in the UK (2) and it's a real privilege to be able to face them off. Not only that, but most of our patients go on to enjoy not only a longer life, but often also a better quality of life.

Having said that, however, the operations themselves are some of the biggest undertakings that any patient can face, with high stakes and long recovery periods. Any efforts to reduce the impact of these operations can make a big difference not only to individual patients (by getting them home quicker), but also communities (by getting people back to their normal jobs and roles as parents, carers and other members of a contributing community) and the population as a whole (by reducing hospital stays, making more space available for people who need to be there). Robotic surgery brings us closer to the goal of truly "keyhole" operations for these patients. (3)

Liverpool Heart and Chest is taking the initiative to purchase a robot and bring cardiothoracic surgery in the UK to the fore, but the hospital needs help in securing the capital funding.

Please sponsor me on my Tough Mudder run in July, Triathlon in August and Marathon in October 2017 to help Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital purchase a brand spanking new surgical robot! 

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

(1) Disclosure: I work at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital as a cardiac surgeon

(2) http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/over60s/Pages/The-top-five-causes-of-premature-death.aspx

(3) The evidence for robotic surgery is still growing. LHCH wants to help build on that by being on the cutting edge of the research into better, safer surgery. As one of the leading minimally invasive centres in the UK, we're aware that we're reaching the limits of what can be done with the current technology and we want to work towards developing the standard of care for the future.