In a groundbreaking initiative, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust has partnered with Apian and Wing to implement a drone delivery service for urgent blood samples in central London. The on-demand service flies between the labs at Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital, reducing delivery times from over 30 minutes by road to under two minutes by drone1. This rapid transport enables quicker analysis, allowing for more efficient determination of patient readiness for surgery or discharge. Wing’s recent announcement shows positive progress:“We are now flying up to 10 on-demand transfers per day from Monday through Friday. Each delivery holds several samples in a safe and secured medical canister”

Wing flies between London hospitals. Image credit: Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust

Wing’s drone features a fixed-wing airframe with vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capability, powered by 12 propellers for vertical lift and 4 forward-facing propellers for horizontal flight. They can carry payloads of up to 1.1kg, achieve a maximum range of 12 miles, and reach speeds of up to 65 miles per hour, all within a wingspan of just 1.5m.

Watch the video here:

1 NHS delivery drones take flight offering faster and greener patient care

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