HAMPSHIRE doctors are using a revolutionary procedure to remove kidney stones that could save up to 10,000 NHS bed days a year.

The new technique which reduces the time patients spend in hospital is now being used by surgeons at University Hospital Southampton (UHS).

The procedure is carried out by inserting a thin tube into the kidney via the bladder.

The tube allows doctors to visualise stones before removing them using a small forceps-like tool.

The technique has allowed Bhaskar Somani, a consultant urological surgeon at UHS, and his team to perform the procedure more than three times the amount that is being carried out nationally.

Mr Somani said: “With rising prevalence of kidney stones and increasing pressures on the NHS as a whole, any changes which can be made to speed up treatment for patients and reduce hospital stays are extremely welcome.”

Mr Somani and his colleagues used the technique for 78 per cent of 544 stone removal procedures performed at UHS between 2012 and 2016 and had a success rate of 95 per cent.

“On a national scale, if we look at pulling the national average up in line with our performance of 78 per cent, there is scope to prevent around 10,000 patients a year requiring a hospital stay of one day,” Mr Somani said.

He also warned the country faces a kidney stone “epidemic”, with one in seven people now likely to require hospital treatment for the condition.

Kidney or renal stones develop when crystals of salt accumulate into stone-like lumps and are not flushed out of the body.

This can lead to stone blockages in the urinary system and cause pain and urinary infections.

The condition affects around 10 per cent to 15 per cent of the male population and 3per cent to seven per cent of women between the ages of 20 and 60.