Droner - Her et resultat av britiske National Health Services Clinical Entrepreneur Programme

 

Det burde etableres en dronekorridor mellom Stavanger Universitetssykehus og Haukeland sykehus i Bergen. (Red.)

UK Medical Drone Delivery Service 

Announced

Apian founders Hammad Jeilani (right) and Christopher Law

Apian, part of the NHS Clinical Entrepreneur Programme, aims to establish a network of secure air corridors for electric drones to navigate via satellite-enabled GPS. Each drone will be able to carry COVID-19 samples, test-kits and PPE.

This will avoid courier call-out waiting times, free-up NHS staff, reduce unnecessary physical contact and minimise the risk of secondary transmission of the virus.

The project will be based at Broomfield Hospital, part of Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust and will be supported by the local Anglia Ruskin University as the academic partner. Befittingly, the hospital stands on a WW1 Royal Flying Corps Airfield.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said:

The efforts of the UK’s space sector to support our incredible NHS during the COVID-19 pandemic have been truly inspirational.

The projects we are backing today are fantastic examples of how our leading space scientists are supporting those directly on the frontline to help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Christopher Law, from Apian said:

COVID-19 has highlighted challenges in NHS supply chain logistics. There has never been a better time to create a faster, more dependable and environmentally friendly method of transporting medical supplies. We are confident that by setting up a medical drone delivery service, we’ll be able to fly samples to labs more regularly, reliably and quickly, improving patient health outcomes.

The start-up company was founded by Hammad Jeilani and Mr Law, trainee doctors at the Barts and The London as well as Mid and South Essex NHS innovation fellows. It is installing drone pad infrastructure so its aircraft can take off from and land at hospitals, laboratories and warehouses.

The company will scale the work from its drone trials by creating the UK’s NHS Air Grid (NAG), a network of secure air corridors designed to safely, rapidly and effectively enable drone delivery across the NHS. It is working closely with the Civil Aviation Authority, UK Space Agency and the emergency services to create these corridors.

The drones, which can carry a maximum weight of 2kg and fly about 60 miles, will fly at 300ft (90m) above ground level and are designed to fly in harsh weather. It is a hybrid drone, which means it has the rotors of a typical drone and the wings of a plane, making it very good at flying long distances.

The drones will initially be flying between Broomfield Hospital, Basildon Hospital and the Pathology First Laboratory in Basildon. The flight path from Broomfield Hospital to the Pathology First Lab is 22km and takes just under 17 minutes. The flight path from Basildon Hospital to Pathology First is 11.5km and takes just over nine minutes

The healthcare drone company is one of three new projects using space-enabled technologies and services to support the NHS in the ongoing battle against COVID-19.