Mr Rick Popert

Mr Rick Popert – Consultant Urological Surgeon

Mr Rick Popert is a Senior Consultant Urological Surgeon at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, appointed in 1996. With a career spanning nearly three decades, he is a leading UK authority on the diagnosis and surgical treatment of prostate cancer and benign prostatic disease.

Following retirement from full-time NHS practice in 2019, Mr Popert now works part-time at Guy’s Hospital, specialising in prostate diagnostics and surgery. He also serves as Chairman of the Urology Cancer MDT at London Bridge Hospital.

Benign Prostatic Enlargement (BPE)

Mr Popert has led innovation in the surgical management of BPE:

Robotic Aquablation – Established London’s first NHS Aquablation programme at Guy’s in 2022, focusing on prostates 80–150cc to reduce risk of ejaculatory dysfunction and incontinence

Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) – Introduced in 2002; with over 2000 procedures performed, and provides a national tertiary referral service for large prostates

Prostate Arterial Embolisation (PAE) – First offered in London in 2014, as a minimally invasive alternative to HoLEP in conjunction with Dr Tarun Sabharwal Consultant Interventional Radiologist

REZUM Steam Therapy – Introduced in 2019 as a day-case, less invasive treatment

Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

Mr Popert is a national leader in prostate cancer diagnostics, with over 18 years of innovation in transperineal biopsy techniques:

General Anaesthetic Transperineal Biopsies – Since 2007

MRI–US Fusion Biopsies – Introduced in 2012

Local Anaesthetic PrecisionPoint™ Biopsies – Adopted in 2018

He was introduced to PrecisionPoint™ by its inventor, Dr Matt Allaway, and quickly recognised its potential to replace traditional transrectal biopsy. In 2019, he was appointed a Fellow of the NHS Innovation Accelerator, with the goal of scaling PrecisionPoint™ nationally. His work with BXTA, the UK distributor, has been pivotal in training urologists and nurses across the country and transforming national biopsy practice—TP biopsies now account for over 80% of all prostate biopsies, compared to 30% pre-pandemic.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr Popert also led the establishment of London’s first outpatient TP biopsy service in the private sector at HCA @ The Shard, mirroring his NHS programme. Outpatient Transperineal biopsies combining MRI Targeted and Systematic biopsies can be carried out Monday to Friday and the results available within 48 hours

Prostate Cancer Treatment

Mr Popert offers a comprehensive range of treatment options, including:

Dynamic Prostate Brachytherapy – Introduced in 2003; He has the UK’s largest experience with over 1,000 patients treated and is now exploring its role in focal therapy for localised disease

Robotic-Assisted Radical Prostatectomy – Since 2006, with over 1,200 cases, trained in Detroit and the Cleveland Clinic. Offers NeuroSAFE margin assessment at HCA @ Guy’s

Fiducial Marker & SpaceOAR Insertion – Since 2018, performed in collaboration with Dr Stephen Morris to support image-guided radiotherapy.

Procedure offered conveniently under local anaesthetic at The Shard Outpatient Centre

Rick Popert has published or co-authored over 100 papers predominantly on prostate cancer diagnostics & transperineal biopsies and the treatment of both benign & malignant prostatic disease.