EMED Group, one of the largest healthcare logistic providers to the NHS, and Skyports Drone Services have successfully completed a proof-of-concept project for East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust aimed at bringing additional innovation and sustainability benefits to medical courier services.
Launched in June this year, the four-week trial was run with East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), an existing customer of EMED Group. The project successfully transported over 400 pathology samples between two ESNEFT sites, highlighting how regular and recurring drone operations can support traditional medical courier services to further improve services for patients and healthcare professionals.
Craig Smith, Group CEO of EMED Group, explains more: “This project is an important milestone highlighting innovative practices in the medical courier space. The drone service provides tangible environmental benefits and also ensures that vital pathology samples and medical supplies are transported quickly and effectively between points of care with no risk to delays we often experience on the road network.”
Alex Brown, Director of Skyports Drone Services, commented: “We’re at a really important stage in the scaling of medical drone logistics. Projects such as this one with EMED are helping pave the way for permanent operations by demonstrating just how safe, beneficial, and effective drone services are – and the ease with which they can be implemented. Each delivery we complete ensures that a patient receives the care they need that bit quicker. At scale, the impact is transformational.”
Shelley Garrey, Service Lead - Support Services at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust, said: “This is a really exciting step in looking at new technologies to help deliver healthcare faster. Using drones mean patients will receive their results quicker while saving time and resources. This is an exciting pilot project and we hope we can look to expand in the future.”
Deliveries were conducted using Skyports Drone Services’ Swoop Aero Kookaburra III aircraft, a fixed wing aircraft with a 3kg payload. The drone is a tried and tested platform, which Skyports Drone Services has used on countless medical delivery missions, flying tens of thousands of kilometres to date. When compared to a standard diesel van (Vauxhall Combo 1.5l diesel), driving 77,080 miles across just four locations in one year, the saving against a single-drone operation is 22.72 tonnes of CO2 emissions per annum.