Silicon Valley-based Zipline has partnered with UK logistics firm Apian to deliver medical supplies by drone for the country’s National Health Service. The supplies will be delivered to hospitals, GPs, and care homes, rolling out with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust by the autumn of 2024. According to the Silicon Valley firm, it will use […]
Silicon Valley-based Zipline has partnered with UK logistics firm Apian to deliver medical supplies by drone for the country’s National Health Service.
The supplies will be delivered to hospitals, GPs, and care homes, rolling out with Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust by the autumn of 2024.
According to the Silicon Valley firm, it will use its fleet of fixed-wing, fully autonomous aircraft (Zips) using robust technologies, including artificial intelligence, to fly quietly and autonomously.
Zips can travel up to 130 miles roundtrip in almost any weather condition, and release packages with parachutes that float down to a hospital’s outdoor area. All Zips have fully redundant safety systems and are supervised by trained aviation personnel who can track a flight and intervene if necessary.
NHS drone delivery
Meanwhile, Apian has built a platform which integrates both healthcare and aviation, creating a fully automated, on-demand delivery system that allows the NHS to place orders and Zipline to fulfil them in a number of minutes from receiving the order.
Zipline said the move is set to cut costs and allow healthcare providers to reduce the number of cancelled procedures, improving services to hundreds of thousands of patients.
“I’ve seen firsthand the impact that running out of supplies can have on patient health outcomes,” said Apian medical director and co-founder Christopher Law.
“Delivering critical products with drones, where and when they’re most needed, will improve supply chain efficiency and give doctors, nurses and clinicians more time to focus on the most important thing — their patients.”
Keller Rinaudo Cliffton, CEO and co-founder of Zipline, added: “Today 3,000-pound gas vehicles driven by humans are used to deliver three-pound packages billions of times per year. It is expensive, slow, and bad for the environment.
“This decision means that the NHS can start to transition delivery to solutions that are ten times as fast, less expensive, and zero emission. This service will be delivered at a fraction of the cost of the existing solution and will help drive financial savings to the NHS in the longer term.”
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