In a ground-breaking first for Scotland, laboratory specimens have been flown from one NHS board to another - by drone.
This step forward by the Project CAELUS initiative, led by AGS Airports in partnership with NHS Scotland, took place during a three-week flight trial between NHS Lothian and NHS Borders.
Live flying took place between the Edinburgh BioQuarter next to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Borders General Hospital in Melrose.
Invited guests were involved a special event on 21st August showcasing the live flight trial with presentations around the work conducted by Project CAELUS.
This step forward by the Project CAELUS initiative, led by AGS Airports in partnership with NHS Scotland, took place during a three-week flight trial between NHS Lothian and NHS Borders.
Live flying took place between the Edinburgh BioQuarter next to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and Borders General Hospital in Melrose.
Invited guests were involved a special event on 21st August showcasing the live flight trial with presentations around the work conducted by Project CAELUS.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The Careless Project is an initiative part funded by Innovate UK. We are a 16 partner
00:17consortium and our objective is to demonstrate a drones logistic network within Scotland
00:23for NHS.
00:25We've got 16 partners from a range of different industry sectors all bringing their own specialist
00:32expertise to the table to address the different elements that are required to be in place
00:38to allow us to deliver items between health board areas.
00:42We're really excited to be here today at Borders General Hospital and we are thrilled to have
00:48had the first of our flights in the Careless Project within the first of our flying networks.
00:53This network is actually the first time that the NHS in Scotland have flown between two
00:59different health boards between Lothian and Borders and the project are just so proud
01:04that we've managed to achieve this.
01:06This is a really important milestone in the Careless Project. It's a really exciting time
01:11for us because we're able to demonstrate drone flights carrying medical cargo for the NHS
01:19for the service that we're hoping to develop for them and being integrated into the airspace
01:24in a safe, efficient and equitable manner.
01:29For this use case specifically we're focusing on lab samples but it's also customisable
01:34for transport of pharmaceuticals, blood products, equipment. As part of that I think one of
01:39the most critical things for us was ensuring that we got the temperature control right.
01:43The packaging provides full temperature control for up to five hours or five plus hours between
01:48two to eight and fifteen to twenty five degrees C which covers the vast majority of NHS payloads.
01:53For us at the moment this specific use case, the transit time between Lothian and Borders
01:59is five plus hours with several stops. So for patients who have very critical conditions
02:04or things that might be suspected, these lab samples arriving in half an hour can make
02:08a real difference to people's lives.
02:10So this is one of a number of flight trials happening as part of the Careless Project
02:16and in the future flight trials that happen later in the year, NATS is really excited
02:21that we'll be able to demonstrate and showcase some of our technical solutions for managing
02:27the air traffic in a scalable way and hence getting us that bit closer to realising the
02:32vision for the project to integrate drones and other airspace users safely, efficiently
02:39and equitably.
02:41I think opening up new ways of doing healthcare, particularly for the remote and rural aspects
02:48of parts of Scotland, I hope it will help deliver a lot more care at home and just allow
02:54the NHS to adapt to new ways of working.
02:57If we wanted to sell it down it's improving healthcare quality, so it's giving people
03:02who are living in remote places in the Highlands and the Islands and places where they're not
03:07maybe close to the healthcare they need, it's giving them that access, making it easier
03:11for them.
03:12I think drone technology within the health environment is a really positive thing and
03:17should be seen as that.
03:20It's opportunities that we haven't already got and it's not going to take away from anything
03:25that we currently do but it could certainly enhance patient care which is fundamental
03:29to NHS.
03:31Careless Project is looking forward to moving on from the successful flights that we've
03:37undertaken here in the Borders to our next network in Ayrshire and Arran and then after
03:43that onwards into NHS Grampian and Highlands and there's some really exciting initiatives
03:50coming up to test different use cases and validate new airspace integration concepts.
03:55I think for me, as an NHS Lothian employee but also as my own health board, I can see
04:02great potential, particularly for our rural communities but from an urban perspective
04:07as well and being part of that to be able to see what improvements can be made and enhancements
04:12to our existing healthcare system but also logistics within Scotland to be able to help
04:19some of those communities.