A pioneering project led by NHS Grampian and the owners of Aberdeen Airport to use drones to transport essential medicines and samples has secured a £10 million funding boost.
Experts have been running trial flights to examine whether technology can be used to support medical services, particularly in rural areas.
More than 12,000 hours of flying were done in 2020 and 2021 to determine whether drones are capable of transporting medical supplies.
Drones could reduce patient waiting times
Now the Caelus (Care and Equity – Healthcare Logistics UAS Scotland) consortium has secured a further £10.1 million funding boost from UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) to move to the next stage of test flights and system tests.
The partnership is made up of 16 agencies including NHS Scotland, AGS Airports and Strathclyde University, among others.
Caelus project director Fiona Smith, who is head of aerodrome strategy at Aberdeen Airport owners AGS Airports, said: “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.
“The second round of funding from UKRI will allow our consortium to undertake live flights and begin to deploy the physical infrastructure needed to support the drones across Scotland.
“This will involve building prototype landing bases as well as digital and communication infrastructure.
“We will also work with local communities to ensure they understand why and how the drones will be used.”
Could drones be NHS game-changer?
Health Secretary Humza Yousaf described the use of drones as a potential “game-changer” for the NHS when he inspected their progress in Aberdeen in June.
UKRI works with government to invest more than £7 billion a year in research and innovation by partnering with industry and academia.
The project previously received £1.5 million in January 2020.
No timeframe has been given for when the drones may come into operation, if test flights are successful.
Dr Andy Keen, NHS Grampian’s clinical lead for innovation, said: “NHS Grampian is proud to be the lead board for NHS Scotland on Caelus and we very much look forward to working with our sister health boards across Scotland, and our industry partners over the next couple of years.
“Our region is possibly uniquely positioned to test this because it covers such a vast geographical area with an approximately 50/50 spilt of urban and rural populations.”
Public Health Minister Maree Todd added: “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.”
Conversation