Boots becomes first UK chemist to deliver prescription medicines by DRONE as it ships drugs to the Isle of Wight
- The drone flew from Thorney Island and arrived at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport
- The drone flight took place on July 4 and speeded up delivery times for Boots
- A pilot scheme will be trialled by the NHS to transport chemotherapy drugs
- Drones should soon enable doctors to order and receive drugs on the same day
Boots has become the first community pharmacy in the UK to deliver prescription medicines by drone.
The retailer shipped medicines from Thorney Island, near Portsmouth, to the Isle of Wight.
It said that using the technology speeded up delivery times while being more environmentally friendly compared with traditional transportation to the island, which involves a ferry and a road vehicle.
Boots said the first drone flew from the British Army’s Baker Barracks on Thorney Island and arrived at St Mary’s Hospital in Newport on the Isle of Wight on July 4.
Boots are the first pharmacy in the UK to deliver prescription medicines by drone and the NHS announced they plan to deliver chemotherapy drugs the same way
Using a drone is environmentally friendly compared with traditional transportation to the island, which involves a ferry and a road vehicle
The medicines were then collected and transported to Boots pharmacies across the island.
Earlier this month the NHS announced that it intends to use drones to ship chemotherapy drugs to the island in the English Channel as part of a pilot scheme – cutting transport time from four hours to 30 minutes.
It is hoped that using drone technology will one day enable doctors to make same-day delivery orders for drugs and medical equipment from anywhere in the country.
Boots said it is now assessing the feasibility of using drones for deliveries.
It is working with medical transportation company Apian to facilitate the shipments.
Rich Corbridge, chief information officer at Boots, said: ‘Drones have huge potential in the delivery of medicines and it is incredibly exciting to be the first community pharmacy in the UK to transport them in this way.
‘An island location like the Isle of Wight seemed like a sensible place to start a trial of drones, and their value to the delivery of medicines to more remote locations is very clear.
Using drones to deliver drugs to the Isle of Wight can cut transport time from four hours to 30 minutes
‘In this trial, we will be looking at how much time we can save, as well as how we can incorporate drones into our medicines supply chain to create economic efficiencies too.
‘We want to prepare now for the wider use of this technology in the future.’
Max Coppin, chief operating officer at Apian, said: ‘Not only can drones deliver medicine to hospitals, but we are particularly excited about our partnership with Boots as it demonstrates drones can also help bring care closer to communities.
‘Whilst faster and more reliable than ground transportation, they bring with them additional environmental benefits and offer a more sustainable solution for delivery.’
During the pandemic NHS Scotland also used drones to carry Covid-19 test samples and test kits up to 40 miles across remote parts of the country.
The drone cargo also included medicine, personal protective equipment (PPE) and each drone carried up to 3kg of supplies each.
London drone firm Skyports became the first operator to get permission from the UK Civil Aviation Authority to carry diagnostic specimens – their drones were ones used by NHS Scotland.
It was funded as part of a £1.1 million scheme from the UK Space Agency to fund healthcare initiatives that use space tech.
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