RETIRED neurologist Dr Ian Bone was diagnosed with prostate cancer after he went to see his GP with a sore foot.

Symptoms he mentioned in passing prompted the GP to organise a blood test and the results hinted at prostate problems.

Coming from a medical background, Dr Bone, from Helensburgh, had looked through the latest research about prostate cancer by the time he was given this diagnosis in June. Even for him the information was confusing. "You know there have been a lot of trials and a lot of studies but the water is probably muddier than it was before," he said.

However, after talking to a man who had already undergone the procedure, he concluded the latest system where the prostate is removed by a surgeon controlling a robot was his best option.

"The most worrying thing about having prostate surgery is being left incontinent and I knew the chances of it happening is significantly less with this form of surgery," he said. "I knew I had more chance of regaining continence early. I had more chance of mobilising early and I had more chance of no post-operative complications."

However, without ever being told officially, Dr Bone said he also understood he was never likely to be able to get this treatment on the NHS in Scotland. With 33 of the da Vinci robot systems installed across 28 trusts in England, he says he found it strange there was no Scottish service. Luckily he could afford the £10,000 required for him to have the operation in Germany. "I remember being in the waiting room in hospital in Glasgow and thinking what a privileged position I was in because most of the people out there would not have the opportunity (of this treatment) or even the opportunity to look at the evidence of what was available," he said.

On August 14 Dr Bone, 69, and his wife took off for Europe, never having expected to become "health tourists." They found it unsettling. "I could not insure myself against anything going wrong so that was an enormous worry and there was no support network out there if anything did go wrong," he reflected.

However, the couple need not have worried. The operation, he said, went incredibly well. Five days after surgery, his catheter was removed, his bladder worked and he and his wife went to botanical gardens in Leipzig for ice cream.

During his procedure, he said, the surgeon was sat at a computer console looking at a three-dimensional image of his body on a screen and moving instruments placed inside him. Using the robot to make the cuts this way, he said, removed potential human problems such as tremor. Tissue samples were sent away for testing while the operation was progressing to ensure all the tumour was removed.

Almost three months later Dr Bone says he feels tremendous.

"I think this (innovation) is something that is overdue here," he added. "Hopefully there is a plan for Scotland and I would like to see people getting a move on with it."