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An NHS drone is being used to send Covid-19 samples, blood tests and personal protective equipment between hospitals in England.
The tests, backed by a £ 1.3 million grant from the UK Space Agency, are expected to establish a network of air corridors for electric drones to navigate using GPS.
The remote-controlled drone, to be piloted by a former military fast jet or helicopter instructor, will initially fly between Essex’s Broomfield Hospital, Basildon Hospital and the Pathology First Laboratory in Basildon.
The project is the brainchild of Apian, a healthcare drone startup founded by Christopher Law and Hammad Jeilani.
“Covid-19 has highlighted the challenges in the logistics of the NHS supply chain,” Law said. “We are confident that by establishing a medical drone delivery service, we will be able to send samples to laboratories more regularly, reliably and quickly, which will help improve patient health outcomes.”
The use of drones is expected to reduce courier wait times, free up NHS personnel, reduce unnecessary physical contact, and minimize the risk of secondary transmission of the virus.
The drone is designed to fly 90 meters (300 feet) above the ground and withstand harsh weather conditions. It marks the latest in a series of drone industry initiatives to help fight Covid-19 in the UK and elsewhere.
In May, The Guardian reported how vital medical supplies were sent four times a day to the Isle of Mull in the Inner Hebrides as part of a similar trial.
Meanwhile, Solent Transport, the University of Southampton and Windracers embarked on a project to transport medical supplies to St Mary’s Hospital on the island of White on the island with a drone, while ferry services were reduced in April.
The announcement of the drone test in Essex comes amid reports that the UK could run 1 million tests a day by Christmas.
Government adviser Sir John Bell, a professor of medicine at Oxford University, said it was possible, but there would be significant logistical challenges.
“Setting these goals is sometimes not that helpful, but I think it is possible with the technology that is online,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today program. “The problem is how to get the swabs out of people’s mouths. centers, large laboratories, how to get them out of the box, how to introduce them into the workflow and how to capture the data at the end?
“As always, it is not the middle part, it is the front and the rear that is really the limiting factor and [that’s what] people are working on logistics. “
