We are the Robots

This story on the news made me prick up my ears. Larbert is largely unknown to anyone outside of Scotland (outside Stirlingshire, even) although if I was to mention Stenhousemuir, the Eastern part of the village, it will gain a flicker of acknowledgement from many. That's right, we are number 48 on the pools coupon. Anyway, the new super-duper Forth Valley Hospital has been under construction in Larbert for the last few years and is nearing completion. It appears that the town, which was previously known for a couple of psychiatric units and a toffee factory will be entering the space age - our new hospital will be run by robots!

On closer inspection it is a little more tame than that and the robots will be carrying out less demanding tasks than those I worked on in factories 20 years ago (my original IT training was in CNC programming - the tedious end of cybernetics). However, this does seem to be a progression. I'm guessing that the menial tasks carried out by the hospital robots could be carried out more cheaply by human staff, so I expect that the logic behind them is a quality control issue.

I'm just wondering how long it will be until we see robots used on the higher end of medical care. Robot surgeons have been used in conjunction with human consultants for various fiddly tasks - brain surgery really is more complicated than rocket science. And I could see some advantages in some nursing tasks being automated - leaving the nurses more time to carry out the more humane side of their job.

I think there are limits to what robots can do. Using robots in an industrial environment is fine. Advertising men like to think the "made by hand" tag gives a nice, homely, cottage-industry feel to items, but actually I want my manufactured items made properly by robots. However, part of the service given by medical staff is the human interaction - being able to speak to a doctor or a nurse rather than to deal with a computer or machine. This is part of the reason alternative medicine proves popular. It's not that it works (controlled studies show that it doesn't) but the patient is awarded far more personal time with the practitioner than with an overworked NHS doctor or nurse.
However, if I have to go to Larbert hospital and the matron looks like this, I'm leaving!