Surgery and healthcare have been fundamentally changed by new technology. Should we imagine that technology will always be the answer, or does that risk missing procedural, or methodological changes that might be just as effective. Martin Elliot talks about the excitement and peril of technology in healthcare.

Martin Elliott MD FRCS is Professor Emeritus of Cardiothoracic Surgery at UCL & Emeritus Professor of Physic and Fellow at Gresham College. He worked as a paediatric cardiothoracic (& transplant) surgeon at the Great Ormond Street from 1984 until 2019. He was co-Medical Director there from 2010 to 2015. He now holds a number of part time posts including as a non-executive director of the Royal Marsden Hospital NHS FT, London and Chief Medical Officer of Allocate Software Ltd. Pro Bono he is a non-executive director of Children’s Health Ireland, Dublin, and was a member of the China Tribunal.
He has led research into the pathophysiology of cardiopulmonary bypass, outcomes and clinical databases and tracheal transplantation and is widely published. He has delivered over 450 invited lectures worldwide and many named lectures. He has held several international visiting professorships and taught and operated throughout the world.
All of Professor Elliott's Gresham lectures can be accessed here.
[The image of Professor Elliott is used courtesy of Becan]