Could drones help improve your health service? NHS Borders takes part in ground-breaking pilot
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's a drone carrying medical supplies!
And it's probably not the only one you're likely to see.
A three-week trial - which sees laboratory specimens flown from one NHS board to another - is now underway with the hope it could lead to more same-day diagnosis and treatments.
It's claimed the journey between Edinburgh's BioQuarter - next to the city's Royal Infirmary - and Borders General Hospital in Melrose by road can sometimes take up to five hours, but only takes 35 minutes by drone.
It's hoped the ground-making initiative, code-named Project CAELUS, could pave the way for widespread use of the tech in delivering medicines, bloods and supplies across Scotland.
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Project director Fiona Smith said: “Our consortium has been working extremely hard to get to this stage and we are delighted we have been able to test this important use case for the NHS.
“Transporting laboratory specimens by drone could speed up the clinical decision making allowing for same day diagnosis and treatment.
“It is also one of the first times in the UK that there has been a demonstration of beyond the visual line of sight medical drone operations transiting between controlled and uncontrolled airspace.
“This is an important milestone for our project and we now look forward to testing more potential use cases by drone across Scotland in the coming months.”
Led by AGS Airports in partnership with NHS Scotland, CAELUS (Care & Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland), is part funded by the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Future Flight Challenge.
It brings together 16 partners including the University of Strathclyde and Skyports Drone Services.
A similar trial has also taken place in Northumberland, where urgent blood stocks were sent from Wansbeck Hospital to Alnwick Infirmary.
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Hazel Dempsey is the CAELUS NHS Scotland programme lead. She said: “Our aim, from an NHS perspective, is to explore opportunities where drone technology could benefit patients and NHS services in urban, remote, rural and island landscapes.
"The NHS is reliant on van logistics that have provided valuable service for decades, however these can take time, travelling hundreds of road miles each day. In some parts of Scotland, patients who live in remote and rural locations are dependent on ferry or airline availability.
“This project will enable the NHS to consider if drone technology is viable and able to contribute to improving the health and wellbeing of our population. This project will position the United Kingdom and NHS Scotland as a leader in healthcare and aviation industries.”
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The Scottish Ambulance Service also carried out a simulation study in August to better understand the feasibility of delivering an Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) via drone technology.
Laura Jones, Director of Quality & Improvement at NHS Borders added: "We are proud to be involved in Project Caelus, exploring how drone technology could provide an additional logistics service to enhance access to essential medical supplies particularly in rural parts of Scotland like the Scottish Borders.
“Our involvement in this project is part of our commitment to providing high quality person-centred care by modernising services so that they are fit for the future using the technologies that are available to us going forward."
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