NHS Scotland and AGS Airports land £10 million for UK's first medical drone project
It could result in medical supplies being delivered across the country by drones
NHS Scotland and AGS Airports have secured £10.1 million in funding to deliver the UK’s first national medical drone network.
They are working as part of a group of sixteen organisations, including the University of Strathclyde and NATS, on the innovative CAELUS project – which will see essential medicines, bloods and other medical supplies transported throughout the country using drones.
CAELUS Project Director, Fiona Smith, said:
“The CAELUS project is set to revolutionise the way in which healthcare services are delivered in Scotland.
“A drones network can ensure critical medical supplies can be delivered more efficiently, it can reduce waiting times for test results and, more importantly, it can provide equity of care between urban and remote rural communities."
This is the second round of funding for the CAELUS project.
In January 2020, they were awarded £1.5 million, which allowed them to design drone landing stations for NHS sites across Scotland.
They also developed a virtual model of the proposed delivery network which connects hospitals, pathology laboratories, distribution centres and GP surgeries across Scotland.
The second round of funding from the Future Flight Challenge at UK Research and Innovation will allow the organisations involved to undertake live flight trials and remove the remaining barriers to safely using drones at scale within Scotland’s airspace.
Public Health Minister, Maree Todd, said: “This innovative project will help position Scotland at the forefront of drone technologies to deliver essential healthcare supplies to people more quickly and provide equity of care between urban and remote rural communities.
“It also demonstrates an effective industry partnership showing that when businesses, universities and public sector work together they can deliver for Scotland and outperform the competition, attracting welcome funding at this challenging time.”
Live flight trials will be operated by CAELUS consortium member Skyports.
The UK-based drone services provider is an experienced operator of medical and dangerous goods cargo flights, and was instrumental to early trial flights with NHS Scotland in 2020 and 2021.