Busy London airspace now home to medical drones flying over people (and historic landmarks)

London’s skyline is known for icons like Big Ben and the London Eye, but there’s a new addition to its airspace that’s turning heads. It’s a medical drone delivery service transporting urgent blood samples across the city.

The collaboration between Wing (the drone delivery arm affiliated with Google), healthcare logistics company Apian, and the NHS Guy’s and St Thomas’ Foundation Trust brings on-demand medical drone delivery service in the heart of London. (The National Health Service is the publicly-funded healthcare system in England, and one of the four National Health Service systems in the United Kingdom.)

And sure, this medical drone delivery service stands out as an example of drones for good (and useful deliveries). But the biggest reason this new drone delivery service stands out? It’s happening in one of Europe’s busiest and most complex airspaces.

Cutting-edge healthcare in London’s crowded skies

The new London medical drone delivery service currently flies blood samples between Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital. The two facilities are less than two miles apart. But given their location in one of Europe’s biggest cities (which entails big traffic), they’re a roughly-40-minute walk — and sometimes close to a 40-minute drive if there’s traffic.

With this London medical drone delivery service, what previously could take more than 30 minutes by motorbike or van can now be done by drone in under three minutes. The speed is convenient and critical. For patients undergoing surgery or facing complications, every second counts. With rapid drone deliveries, clinicians can more quickly analyze samples or make critical decisions about their patients.

A new standard for urban air mobility

That’s all good — and it makes for a nice pitch to the drone skeptics out there who still aren’t convinced drones are useful.

But as a Drone Girl reader, you likely already know that drones are good. So why is this particular drone delivery service so newsworthy? If the photo of Big Ben wasn’t a giveaway, it’s the very nature of London’s airspace.

In a city like London, navigating drones through such dense, historic airspace is no small feat. And these drones fly in incredibly dense airspace including tall towers and apartment buildings. The drones don’t fly directly over Big Ben (that landmark is across the river), but they do fly in the shadow of that and other London skyline highlights such as the London Eye.

Check out the two hospitals (as shown via Google Maps walking directions):

NATS, which is one of the UK’s leading provider of air traffic control services, handles the air traffic management through a a public-private partnership with the UK government. Specific to these flights, NATS secured special airspace permissions to allow Wing’s lightweight, electric drones to fly.

That’s presumably no easy feat, considering London’s airspace is one of the most regulated and restricted areas of the UK. And it’s also clearly dense. Whereas other drone flights are flying over rivers or fields, that’s hardly the case here. The satellite view (this time indicated by Google Maps driving directions) makes it clear that these drones are flying over people:

To be able to fly in London, drones must adhere to the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) strict regulations on drone flights over people. Normally, flying over people, especially in a city center, requires comprehensive risk assessments and additional safety precautions. Wing’s operations here demonstrate the possibility of safely integrating drone deliveries even over populated areas—a major step for urban air mobility.

How the London medical drone deliveries work

Unlike Wing’s operations with Walmart that have multiple drone deliveries coming in per hour by customers seeking their limes and tacos on-demand, this test is a little more control. For now, there are only 10 on-demand transfers per day, suggesting that these flights are more closely monitored — and far less automated than other Wing operations.

If you want to see it for yourself, don’t arrive on a weekday. The flights only run Monday through Friday.

As far as what’s being delivered, it’s generally blood samples which are securely packed in medical canisters.

What’s next for the London medical drone deliveries

This current set of London medical drone isn’t necessarily for ever. For now, it’s merely a trial spanning six months.

But should it be successful, it has the potential to become a model for drone delivery of other medical supplies, not just within London but across the NHS.

That could entail a NHS-wide drone network that would make healthcare deliveries as seamless and immediate as ordering from a favorite delivery app.

For what it’s worth, Apian, a healthcare logistics startup founded by NHS doctors, has already trialed similar drone deliveries in rural areas. In fact, Apian and Wing have previously partnered on medical drone delivery in Dublin, Ireland.

This latest London test project signals a desire to make such services routine across urban settings too.

Watch it in action

With that, you have to see how drones zip across central London. Check out Wing’s demo video of a live delivery from Guy’s Hospital to St Thomas’:

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