Drones deliver prescription medicines for pharmacy for first time
27 July 2022, 13:04
Boots has become the first community pharmacy to deliver prescription drugs using the technology.
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 has become the first community pharmacy in the UK to transport prescription-only medicines by #drone after a test flight earlier this month. The drone took off from Portsmouth and landed on the Isle of Wight. Read more here: https://t.co/2N9SxcaTAW #TechAtBoots @Apianaero pic.twitter.com/AJIkyfZ49R
— Boots UK News (@BootsUKNews) July 27, 2022
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.
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.
NHS cancer patients will be the first in the world to benefit from chemotherapy delivered by drones.
NHS Chief Executive @AmandaPritchard explains how this latest innovation will cut costs, carbon emissions and treat patients as quickly as possible. https://t.co/UH5wsMgjwu pic.twitter.com/niHVeohwm0
— NHS England (@NHSEngland) July 7, 2022
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.
“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.”
