Having worked with drones as the delivery vehicles of choice for some time now, the South West London Pathology laboratory has embedded the technology as an essential part of its modernisation agenda, with expansion planned to additional hospital and GP sites across the England capital.
This is according to a statement from healthcare logistics provider Apian, which added that, since February this year, drones have been picking up samples from the Nelson Health Centre in Raynes Park and delivering them to the SWLP laboratory at St George’s Hospital in Tooting for testing – in just over three minutes.
“The drones, which are designed specifically for safe and efficient small package delivery, provide additional logistics resilience, helping ensure rapid, reliable transportation of urgent samples at a time of heightened pressure on NHS services,” the Apian statement read in part.
“This is especially vital during the summer months where extreme temperatures are increasing disruption on London’s already highly congested roads.”
SWLP has a client base of about 1.8 million patients and processes 51 million samples annually for all NHS trusts and GP services in south west London.
With its partnership with Apian, the laboratory aims to deploy drones to link sites across its network, including St Helier, Croydon and Kingston hospitals, as well as primary care services.
“We are investing heavily in automation and digitisation, introducing other cutting-edge technologies to improve diagnostic precision and speed across the network,” said Simon Brewer, Managing Director of SWLP.
“But the impact of this investment will be restricted if samples are still getting stuck on roads. Drones help us move samples faster, cheaper and greener, and are now a core consideration of our logistics plans.”
Over 2,000 patients have already benefited from deliveries that are up to 85 percent faster than ground logistics. By speeding up test results, the service allows clinicians to provide more timely and effective care for patients.
A wider rollout of the drone project has the potential to save SWLP money by reducing reliance on vans and motorbikes across its network. Drones are already up to 23 percent cheaper than existing urgent couriers on some of the routes, with the cost expected to decrease further over time.
The NHS is responsible for four percent of the country’s carbon footprint, so the electric drones can also help to lower emissions and improve air quality for Londoners, as they produce 98 percent less carbon dioxide per delivery compared to delivery vans.
The inclusion of the Nelson Health Centre, a community healthcare hub serving 27,000 patients, marks the first time drones have picked up samples on a routine basis from an NHS primary care facility.
Andy Christodoulou, Senior Portfolio Manager at Community Health Partnerships, which manages the site, has hailed the drones as a fantastic innovation that is helping the NHS to provide a smooth and effective operation as we expand our services for the community.
“The drones are reliable and unintrusive, and the NHS staff and patients are always thrilled to see them,” he said.
“The initiative demonstrates how modern, fit for purpose NHS LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) infrastructure can enable forward thinking innovation.”
This service forms the blueprint for how drones will support the crucial shift from hospital to community care, with Apian having already made drone delivery a daily norm for NHS hospitals across London.
“Drone delivery is no longer a novelty; it has become an essential part of healthcare logistics,” said Dr Sabena Mughal, an NHS paediatric consultant and Director of Healthcare Partnerships at Apian.
“Having delivered thousands of samples across London, we have helped clinicians make time-critical decisions for heart attack patients and accelerated critical diagnoses for paediatric patients. These services improve clinical outcomes whilst reducing both costs and carbon emissions. With these benefits firmly established, our focus is now on expanding the network nationwide.”
Apian, is partnering with the drone operator Wing to roll out this technology, and the later said it sees the NHS as the best possible partner to grow its healthcare operations.
As explained by Wing’s Chief Business Officer, Heather Rivera; “We are thrilled with the success of Wing’s collaboration with Apian and the NHS in south west London, where our dependable, lightweight drone technology is providing clear benefits to the local community.”
Kate Slemeck, managing director for St George's University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, also chipped in.
“Harnessing drone technology is helping clinicians to provide more timely and effective care for patients by allowing us to deliver rapid, reliable testing on urgent samples by cutting delivery time from around 20 minutes to just over three,” she said.
“What once may have seemed like something from a sci-fi film is now very much a reality across our hospital sites, as drones help us to deliver faster and greener care, cutting emissions while continuing to prioritise patient safety.”