A group of London hospitals announced Tuesday that it would soon experiment with delivering blood samples by drone to the laboratory where they are analyzed, in order to avoid the traffic jams that delay their transport in the English capital.
Samples taken at Guy’s Hospital, located on the south bank of the Thames, will be taken to St Thomas’ Hospital, just over 3 km away, explained the Guy’s and Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, which manages the two establishments.
Currently, transport can take more than half an hour using motorbike or van deliveries, while it could take less than two minutes with a drone, argues the Trust, which plans to reserve this device for samples related to urgent cases.
The pilot operation, which will begin in the autumn in partnership with the specialist healthcare logistics company Apian, will be supervised by the Civil Aviation Authority.
This project “combines two of our key priorities: providing the best possible care for patients and improving our sustainability,” said Professor Ian Abbs, chief executive of Guy’s and Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust.
It comes as the Labour government has promised to “fix” the NHS, the public health system, which is in crisis after years of underfunding and the Covid-19 pandemic. It places particular emphasis on modernising hospitals and improving prevention.
Other pilot programmes for the use of drones by the NHS have already been carried out, for example to transport medical products. Another is being considered to transport blood platelets.
Drone transport and delivery projects are booming in the UK, particularly to serve isolated areas.
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