Integrating drones into NHS patient diagnostic logistics systems: Flight or fantasy?

Abstract

Healthcare accounts for approximately 5% of emissions in developed nations, and the public healthcare provider in the United Kingdom (UK), the National Health Service (NHS), has set a target to reach net-zero emissions by 2040 without detriment to its quality of patient care. With Uncrewed Aerial Vehicles (UAVs; a.k.a. drones, UAS, or RPAS) starting to be used in healthcare systems outside the UK, there is interest in how they could be integrated into NHS operations to transport diagnostic specimens. Reflecting on a business-as-usual analysis of current NHS diagnostic specimen logistics across the Solent region (southern UK), this paper critically evaluates the practical reality of integrating UAV deliveries of this commodity, identifying the benefits and challenges that must be addressed to realise commercial services, including dangerous goods legislation, cargo stability, routing, and weather. In the analysis, 14 out of 79 surgeries could be realistically served by a 5m wingspan vertical take-off/landing (VTOL) UAV: seven directly, and seven via ground-based transfers. The results suggested that an average of 1,628 samples could be served by UAV each week, resulting in 42 flights/week with 10 taxi services to cover periods where weather limited flying. This equated to an approximate total service cost of £2,964/week if regulations develop to relax UAV personnel constraints. The introduction of UAVs reduced the marginal external costs (greenhouse gas emissions, congestion, and air pollution) by £196 per week and cut travel times to UAV served sites by 72% (weather permitting). Tailpipe emissions (excl. taxis), vehicle-kilometres travelled, and van costs were reduced by 20%, 20%, and 23% (respectively), but the overall system cost increased by 56%. Whilst this increase is likely to make the introduction of UAV services financially challenging, the benefits in terms of emissions and journey time savings may offset some of the additional cost and warrant further investigation.

Are Drones Safer Than Vans?: A Comparison of Routing Risk in Logistics

“…This paper explores seven origin-destination (O-D) pairs which were identified as potentially suitable for drone service by Oakey et al [35], as part of a theoretical medical diagnostic specimen collection service in the Southampton area of the UK, covering a mix of urban and rural areas (Figure 1). The locations were selected in the original study if they had sufficient ground space to land a 5-metre wingspan fixed-wing vertical takeoff/landing (VTOL) drone without affecting current land use (approx.…”

“…Roof top areas were not considered as suitable landing sites in the audit as it was not possible to determine if: (i) the roof was flat/clear enough for landing based on satellite imagery; and (ii) access to the roof was possible. For brevity, other details of the case study have been omitted but can be read in [35], covering matters such as the selection of the drone type and use case. The O-D pairs are currently served by a van in a wider series of multi-stop collection rounds, though for the purposes of this investigation, a one-way journey from each origin surgery directly to Southampton General Hospital was assessed.…”

“…It should be noted that air risk (i.e., risk of mid-air collision), and any airspace restrictions were ignored in this analysis (e.g., Southampton Airport CTR), meaning paths may be more direct than would be permitted in real-life. The paths used in [35] were created to minimise the average risk score; however, the paths in this study minimise the integral of risk along a path to give more efficient routing options and a more representative metric of the actual risk exposure. Furthermore, whilst there is a level of risk present at landing sites generally, and in the process of loading goods/servicing aircraft [44,45], these have not been included as they are not considered to be third party interactions.…”

Drone-Based Emergent Distribution of Packages to an Island from a Land Base

“…Medical transport using drones can be used in urgent situations, where the main variable that has an impact on the success of life and health saving is the breaking of barriers to reaching difficult-to-reach places. In the context of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, drones may be used to provide diagnostic screening tests [3], medicinal products, and septic materials, transport of samples [4] of biological material, as well as information campaigns on how to deal with an epidemic, quarantine, or isolation at home [5]. With the rapid development of drone-related technologies, the applications of drones have been greatly improved, and at the same time, more requirements and implementations have emerged.…”

Quantifying Weather Tolerance Criteria for Delivery Drones - A UK Case Study

“…In the USA, UPS have also noted significant issues with flyability in inclement weather [23]. Such articles highlight the large challenges and emphasise that delivery drones may not be the complete solution [21], [24], begging the question, what criteria do drones need to meet to become viable in the long-term with regards to cost, performance, and reliability.…”