Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is partnering with Apian, a company set up through the NHS Clinical Entrepreneurs Programme, to explore the use of uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) to carry chemotherapy drugs, blood samples and other items between sites.

Following approval by the UK Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), test flights began on 13 February and will run until 12 May. Drones will travel along a route from Wansbeck General Hospital at Ashington, up to Alnwick Infirmary, and onto Berwick Infirmary.

Northumbria Healthcare covers a large, mainly rural patch across Northumberland and North Tyneside, so it’s hoped using drones will help reduce delivery times, make efficiencies, and cut carbon emissions. Funded by Apian, the trial will collect logistical data and assess the impact on patient experience, staff resources and the environment.

Sir James Mackey, chief executive of Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, said: “With the area we cover and the number of hospitals and other sites we manage, having effective logistics to get supplies where they need to be is vital, while we’re always mindful of our need to drive efficiencies and reduce our impact on the environment.

“Using drones has the potential to help us deliver important drugs and supplies in a better, smarter way, so we’re looking forward to seeing how the test flights go. We’re committed to providing as much care as we can in our outlying communities, so logistical routes to Alnwick and Berwick are a key focus.”

The project will use fully electric aircraft, which can take off and land vertically like a helicopter before flying horizontally like a plane by combining fixed wings with rotors. The UAVs, which are managed by Skyports Drone Services, can carry up to 3kg of payload and have a maximum speed of 110km/h (almost 70mph).

There will be six flights per day at the start of the trial, increasing to up to 15 flights per day at the end of the trial, delivering chemotherapy medication to Alnwick and onto Berwick Infirmary. Return flights from Alnwick and Berwick will deliver pathology samples to Wansbeck. Other items that may be delivered include blood packs, prescriptions, medical equipment, and mail.

Assessing on-demand delivery in healthcare

Apian co-founder and medical director Dr Christopher Law said the latest trial builds on his company’s work in the Solent with the Isle of Wight NHS Trust, in July last year. That project, he claimed, flew the world’s first chemotherapy and delivered the UK’s first prescription medicine by drone.

He added: “While there’s still much work to be done before UAVs can operate autonomously in non-segregated airspace, there’s an equal and opposite amount of evidence for Apian to collect for how on-demand delivery can impact healthcare, just as it has our personal lives.”

The trial is an important step towards the greater uptake and use of UAVs to support the NHS to build capability into existing, pressured supply chains. Delivering critical medical items via UAVs should help reduce costs to the NHS and taxpayer through automation, while lowering carbon emissions. The use of drones may also help create new local employment opportunities, and, crucially, allow for better patient care.

Anthony Cape, Northumberland Estates’ senior asset manager, said: “We wholly support the use of drone technology to revolutionise the delivery of urgent medical supplies, especially in rural communities.

“Northumberland Estates is delighted to have supplied land for hub points in the desired areas, ensuring Apian and Northumbria Healthcare have a flight network for this trial to deliver essential medical services across Northumberland.”

The trial is being supported by Museums Northumberland, whose chief executive, Rowan Brown, said: “Museums Northumberland is delighted to be supporting this ground-breaking initiative and assisting the work of our outstanding Northumbria Healthcare Trust in achieving better health outcomes for our community.”

A period of community engagement about the project is also taking place alongside the test flights, with an online survey available for local residents to fill in.