Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to take steps to encourage the wider adoption of drone technology in the NHS.

NHS England will continue to encourage the wider adoption of drone technology in the National Health Service where it is both feasible and appropriate.

The NHS is committed to decarbonising travel and transport, with a clear vision of achieving a zero-emission fleet by 2040. In October 2023, NHS England published the NHS Net Zero Travel and Transport Strategy, which contains an ambitious, yet deliverable, roadmap to achieve this. Further information on the NHS Net Zero Travel and Transport Strategy is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/net-zero-travel-and-transport-strategy/

This strategy includes drones as one of the interventions to achieve decarbonised travel and transport. There have already been a number of projects testing and implementing the use of drone technology in the NHS, including pathology drones in Cornwall and blood delivery drones in London. Further information on the pathology drones in Cornwall and the blood delivery drones in London is available, respectively, at the following two links:

https://www.rcpath.org/resource-report/pathology-drone-transport-hopes-to-overcome-logistical-constraints-in-cornwall.html

https://www.guysandstthomas.nhs.uk/news/nhs-delivery-drones-take-flight-offering-faster-and-greener-patient-care

Drones have also been used to deliver vital chemotherapy to the Isle of Wight, reducing a four-hour journey time by road and sea to a 30-minute flight, minimising waste and treatment delays whilst also reducing carbon, with further information available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/greenernhs/whats-already-happening/drone-deliveries-of-vital-chemotherapy-to-the-isle-of-wight/