PRINCESS Anne visited Bridgwater and Taunton College and the Musgrove Park Hospital to celebrate the Pride of Somerset Award winners and the unveiling of a new surgery robot.

Anne, the Princess Royal, spent Thursday (October 31) in Taunton, first visiting the hospital to meet volunteers of the Musgrove Park League of Friends, which funded the hospital’s first surgery robot, as well as seeing first-hand the difference it makes for patients.

The hospital’s League of Friends and donated £1.5 million to buy the da Vinci Xi robot, which surgeons have used to operate on over 200 people in its first year.

Bridgewater and Taunton college welcomed the Princess Royal later in the day for a tour of the site’s Clinical Skills Nursing Suite before meeting the Pride of Somerset Youth Award 2024 winners.

Clinton Rogers, President of the League of Friends, said: "We organised this visit essentially to say thank you to all our volunteers. They are the heart of the League of Friends – without them we wouldn't exist.

"It was wonderful to be able to give so many of our volunteers the chance to meet The Princess Royal. She was very warm and genuinely interested in what they had to say.

"We were also keen for The Princess Royal to see the robotic surgery console. At £1.5 million, it was the single biggest purchase in the history of the League of Friends."

Mr Richard Bamford, a colorectal consultant surgeon at the hospital, said: “It was fantastic to show Her Royal Highness our latest state-of-the-art robotic surgery operating system.

“Our team of surgeons are operating on as many patients as we can with the robot, and we have a really excellent and dedicated theatre team, led by senior nurse Noemi Eccles.

“From a patient’s point of view, it’s making a huge difference as they’re able to go home much quicker and are experiencing less pain.

“Everyone in the NHS works hard to improve their area and sometimes it’s so nice to know that it’s been seen by others and recognised.”