A Brisbane hospital will be the first in Australia to train doctors in robotic surgery as part of a multi-million dollar pledge by the State Government to cut hospital waiting lists.

At a Parliamentary Estimates Committee yesterday, Health Minister Stephen Robertson announced the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) would become the first public hospital in Australia to train doctors in robotic surgery using the $3.5 million Da Vinci Surgical Robot.

The surgical "robot", which specialises in micro-surgery, particularly in cases of prostate cancer, will see the RBWH treating urology patients more quickly.

Queensland Health currently performs around 250 radical prostatectomies across the state every year.

"With our urologists receiving this advanced robotic assistance, we hope to achieve that many alone out of the Royal Brisbane and subsequently reduce urology waiting lists," Mr Robertson said.

"The robot provides unrivalled precision during an operation and because it's minimally invasive, it could potentially cut the average post-operative length of stay from six days to just 24 hours for urology patients."