In an announcement marking the organization’s 74th birthday, the NHS stated it would begin testing the use of drones to deliver chemo drugs to patients in hard-to-reach locations. Remote communities usually receive chemo drugs by car, boat, or helicopter. These modes of transport are relatively slow, which can pose a danger to drugs with short shelf lives. Used repeatedly, they also emit significant amounts of carbon. Drones, meanwhile, can get life-saving drugs to patients in a timely manner while helping the NHS work toward its goal of becoming carbon-neutral.
The trial will begin with the Isle of Wight, an island two miles away from England’s southern coast. Despite the island’s 150,000-strong population, chemo drugs have to be transported in from the mainland. This usually takes a four-hour trip involving “at least two car journeys and one hovercraft or ferry journey,” according to the NHS. A drone, which can transport drugs directly from the pharmacy at Portsmouth Hospitals University NHS Trust to the Isle of Wight’s St Mary’s Hospital, can conduct the trip in a quarter of the time.
(Photo: Apian)
The NHS has partnered with Apian, a medical drone startup whose founders include former NHS employees, to prepare for and run the trial. Integral to the trial are Apian’s fully-electric drones, which were developed by Skylift. The drones (which look like small, decorated airplanes) can fly for up to 1.5 hours on a single charge and reach speeds up to 100 miles per hour. They’re also autonomous, but three trained safety pilots will monitor each flight throughout the trial: one at the take-off location, one at the landing location, and one at Apian’s control center, which is monitored by the UK’s Civil Aviation Authority.
“The Island has a long history of innovation,” said Darren Cattell, CEO of the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, in the organization’s announcement. “We are still at a relatively early stage but the use of drones to transport medical supplies is a concept that has radical and positive implications for both the NHS and for patients across the UK as well as the Isle of Wight.”
Though the NHS and Apian performed test flights without payloads last year, it plans to begin conducting real test deliveries as early as this month. Should the deliveries prove successful, the NHS will extend its test deliveries to Northumbria, a region of northern England.
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