Professor Ben Challacombe

Professor Ben Challacombe is a Consultant Urological Surgeon with a special interest in treating minimally invasive prostatic diseases. He is based at The Shard, part of HCA Healthcare UK and at The Prostate Centre.

Professor Challacombe is the Guy’s & St Thomas’ MDM Urological Cancer and Clinical Robotics Lead, a UK Robotic Surgery Mentor and Robotic Fellowship Director. He trained at Guy’s and St Thomas’ Hospitals, The Royal Marsden Hospital and with Professor Tony Costello at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Australia, where he was awarded the prestigious Rowan Nicks Fellowship from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He served as the British Association of Urology (BAUS) Oncology Section Chairman and in 2019 was awarded the BAUS Golden Cystoscope for contributions to British urology. Professor Challacombe is a lecturer at and Trustee of The Urology Foundation Charity.

Professor Challacombe performed the first randomised trial of telerobotics in 2002 as part of his Master of Surgery thesis on robotic surgery and telemedicine. He has performed over 1,500 robotic radical prostatectomies and over 1,400 robotic upper tract procedures including 900 robotic partial nephrectomies. His 1,600 cases in holmium laser prostatectomy (HoLEP) make him one of the most experienced consultants in this technique in the UK.  He has also contributed to developing the robotic cystectomy and robotic partial nephrectomy programmes at Guy’s Hospital and is the highest volume surgeon for both robotic partial nephrectomy and upper tract robotics in the UK.

His current research focuses on robotic surgery training, trans-perineal template biopsy techniques, active surveillance of low risk prostate cancer, and the development of new robotic platforms in surgery. As primary investigator for 5 UK surgical trials, his current research focuses on robotic surgery training, partial nephrectomy techniques, and the development of new robotic platforms in surgery. Prof Challacombe has been an associate editor of the BJUI, with over 320 peer-reviewed publications (H-index 62)s. He has also authored four books and 28 book chapters sharing his expertise in minimally invasive and robotic urological techniques. 

Professor Challacombe does alternate clinics at The Prostate Centre and at HCA UK at The Shard on Thursdays.