Wales explores drone deliveries to support NHS emergency services

A proposed medical drone network in Wales has received strong public support, with people backing the technology where it can improve NHS services and patient outcomes.

The findings come from a public engagement project exploring attitudes towards the use of drones to deliver medical supplies and support healthcare across Wales. The research examined how drones operating beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) could help deliver care, particularly to remote and underserved communities.

The report, Medical BVLOS Drones: Wales and UK Perspectives – Future Flight Social Insight, found that support was strongest when there was a clear benefit to patients and the wider health service.

The research supports ambitions for a proposed NHS Wales Medical Drone Delivery Network, which aims to enable BVLOS operations across the country.

Professor Nigel Rees, assistant director of research and innovation at the Welsh Ambulance Service and a key figure in the Wales Drone Research & Innovation Network, said public engagement would be essential to developing the technology responsibly.

“Transparent engagement with our communities is essential to maintaining public trust and support for these technologies, ensuring they are proportionate and developed around the needs of our population,” he said.

“This work reflects our ambition to provide care for underserved and hard-to-reach communities through responsible research, development and innovation.”

The project was delivered with Dr Adam Packer of the University of Birmingham and Snowdonia Aerospace, with funding from UK Research and Innovation through the Centre for Understanding Behaviour at the University of Birmingham.

Dr Packer said the findings showed the public was open to medical drones, provided their use was justified by a clear need and supported by ongoing engagement.

“People want to see a clear, needs-driven case for how drones will improve patient outcomes, and open, honest engagement at every stage,” he said.

The Welsh Government’s Healthcare Innovation team said the research built on work to establish the NHS Wales Medical Drone Delivery Network, which received seed funding through its Innovation, Technology and Partnerships programme in 2021.

The team said further evidence would be needed to demonstrate how drones could be used safely and effectively before the technology was adopted into future healthcare practice.

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