Northumbria NHS drone trials

Apian, in conjunction with the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, completed a successful Stage 1 of drone trials between February and May 2023.

Apian, Northumbria Healthcare and Zipline are looking to build on the learnings from Stage 1 with a subsequent trial. More information about this project can be found in the press announcement, or in the FAQs below.

Project FAQs

Partners

Who are the partners behind this trial?

This is a joint effort between Apian, the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust and Zipline.

Who is Apian?

Apian is a healthcare logistics company founded by a team of NHS doctors. Apian’s platform integrates both healthcare and aviation systems, bringing everyday on-demand delivery to the NHS that improves patient health outcomes and staff well-being. You can find out more about Apian on their website here.

Who is Zipline?

Zipline designs, manufactures and operates the world’s largest automated on-demand delivery system with a fleet of fully-electric, highly-automated drones. You can find out more about Zipline on their website here.

Who is funding the trial?

The trial is funded by Apian with support from Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) Healthcare.

Purpose

What is the aim of the trial?

This trial aims to deliver essential medical supplies by drone to healthcare facilities across Northumberland. This will improve health outcomes by bringing care closer to home whilst reducing the impact on the environment.

What are the objectives of the trial? 

The healthcare objectives for this trial are:

• to improve access to care for patients in primary care, secondary care and social care.

• to supplement existing road transportation with drones to provide faster, more cost-effective, more environmentally sustainable logistics.

• to integrate a seamless, end-to-end temperature-validated delivery service for the most sensitive items (including pharmacy products, vaccines and blood products). 

• to reduce wastage associated with stock/inventory for the trial by illustrating the benefits of regional as well as local stockholdings, whilst optimising the associated logistics for Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust.

Which hospitals are participating?

Wansbeck General Hospital, Hexham General Hospital and Haltwhistle War Memorial Hospital are taking part, in addition to up to 20 GPs, care homes and health facilities in the area.

What products will be delivered?

The drones will deliver pharmaceutical products (including prescription medicines), blood, immunisations such as vaccines, and other medical consumables.

Why can’t these items be delivered by road?

They could be but drone delivery is faster, easier, cheaper and better for the environment than delivery by cars, motorbikes and trucks. Drone delivery will reduce the NHS’ reliance on expensive last-minute logistics to move products between facilities when needed.

Surgeries and other procedures are sometimes delayed or cancelled if the right supplies aren’t available. Drone delivery can help stop that from happening. The drones are electric and emit zero carbon emissions, and overall can reduce traffic and road congestion.

Why are these trials taking place in Northumberland?

Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest trusts in the country geographically. More than a third of patients live rurally in either a village or fringe town. This presents significant challenges to providing care to a dispersed population of over 520,000.

Despite these challenges, the Trust is rated ‘outstanding’ by the Care Quality Commission and continuously works to improve the inequalities and complex health and social needs of its location. Apian were asked by the Trust to conduct an evaluation project using delivery drones to transform their clinical services and lead to improved care for their local patients and population.

What is the benefit of using delivery drones? 

We believe that healthcare should benefit from on-demand delivery much like consumers do in their personal lives. If a patient can have a pizza delivered in 30 minutes, why must they wait days for their medication or lab test results to arrive? Drone delivery provides convenience and access to communities all over the world.

Each day, Zipline drones are used by healthcare organisations, retailers, grocery stores and restaurants on four continents to deliver items to hospitals and homes quickly, quietly, and conveniently. Patients and clinicians love it and health systems in other countries have seen dramatic improvements to healthcare outcomes using this technology. 

Trial details

When will the trial take place?

The trial, originally planned to start in 2024, will commence once all necessary approvals, including those from the CAA, NHS, and planning authorities, are received and is expected to last for six months. However, coordinating these approvals may require us to adjust the planned start date for operations.

How often will you fly?

We will operate Monday - Friday between 8 am - 6 pm. We expect to ramp up to an average of 45 deliveries per day. The maximum number of deliveries per day will be 80. We have also requested an additional 2 weekends of flights, to allow us to evaluate the benefits drones can bring to the NHS during NHS out-of-hour times. 

I’ve seen different times mentioned elsewhere, why do the dates and times differ between documents?

As part of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA’s) airspace change process, we have continued to refine the details of the trial. This has included some adjustments to the operating parameters, including the planned dates and times for drone flights. The operating times listed above (Monday - Friday, 8 am - 6 pm) are the correct information.

What route will the drone take?

The drones will fly out and back along designated routes between the hub and the delivery sites. The drones will operate within a section of airspace segregated from other aircraft.

How long will the drone flights take?

The distances and times will vary depending on where the delivery is going to. The typical flight time from the hub is expected to be up to 30 minutes. The drone has a maximum delivery range of 80 - 100 km from the hub.

How high do the drones fly?

The drones will fly at a height of approximately 90 - 120 metres. 

Drone and airspace details

What drone is being used?

Zipline will be using their electric fixed-wing drone (called P1) that cruises at around 50 - 56 knots, operates at or below 120 metres, and has a 1.6 kg payload. The drone delivers a package via parachute and has successfully completed over 1 million deliveries globally. Zipline safely completes a drone delivery every 70 seconds using this system.

More details of the P1 can be found on Zipline’s website here.

Who will fly the drone?

The drones are operated by Zipline. They will fly along pre-programmed routes and will be continually monitored by a flight controller (also known as a remote pilot), who will oversee the flight of the drone along the route. The flight controller will operate from the hub under conditions approved by the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and they are responsible for ensuring the flights are conducted safely.

How safe is it?

Zipline’s operations are extremely safe. They currently operate on four continents and have made more than 1 million deliveries without a single major safety incident.

How environmentally friendly is it?

All drones are fully electric and emit zero carbon emissions during flight. Every drone delivery is a trip that doesn’t go by road, which reduces local traffic and roadway noise.

Do the drones have cameras?

The drones are not equipped with a camera when making deliveries. 

How noisy is the drone?

The delivery drones used by Zipline are known to be extremely quiet; far quieter than passing cars and trucks. They have a fixed-wing design like an aeroplane, which helps to reduce its noise profile compared to a traditional hobbyist quadcopter-style drone.

Aviation regulatory bodies for Zipline’s previous projects have reviewed their operations and found them to be nondisruptive. People who use Zipline’s service regularly rate it 9.2/10, in part for its extremely quiet delivery. 

What permission do you have to fly?

For this trial we will need permission from the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the UK’s aviation regulator, to fly in segregated airspace, and NHS approval for the logistics and planned operations. Building of the drone hub is subject to planning application approval. The goods will be transported in accordance with Air Navigation (Dangerous Goods) Regulations 2002.

Hub details

How did you choose the location for the hub?

The hub location was selected based on a combination of factors. These include:

• proximity to senders and recipients of medical products to be delivered

• infrastructure requirements for the hub building

• aviation and airspace considerations

• routing capability of the drones

• proximity to surrounding buildings

• land ownership

Multiple options were considered to ensure the requirements in all categories were met.

How will the hub be designed?

The drone hub design is an open structure with no high metal fences or spotlights. It will be an open structure that is light and airy.

How will the hub be secured?

Security measures will be in place to protect against the theft of any products or items stored at the hub.

Will drone operations at the hub impact wildlife? 

The delivery drones used by Zipline have flown more than 100 million kilometres. They are used everyday at farms with horses, cows, goats, dogs, and other animals, and there has never been an issue with surrounding wildlife. Government studies have found the operations safe and non-disruptive. 

Will you be hiring to support this project?

Yes. Both Apian and Zipline will hire and train local employees to work on the project. Through this program, we will create a centre of innovation for technology, robotics and aviation in the North of England. 

Who can I talk to about this project if I want more information?

We’d love to hear from you! We encourage you to reach out to us directly at feedback@apian.aero with any questions or feedback.