Autonomous logistics cuts costs and emissions, whilst boosting the resilience and productivity of the healthcare system.
Use cases
Pathology
- Faster test turnaround times improve clinical productivity and patient outcomes
- End-to-end traceability removes wasted time chasing results and builds confidence in the system
Medical Devices
- On-demand access to urgent surgical implants prevents delays to critical procedures
- Reduced reliance on consignment stock lowers costs for both suppliers and providers
Organs
- Faster, more reliable UK organ distribution improves transplant outcomes
- Lower costs and emissions by reducing dependence on traditional air transport
Community Care
- Extends care closer to home, supporting the NHS 'hospital to community' shift without adding road traffic
- Delivers better value: every £100 spent in the community would cost £131 in a hospital setting
Pharmacy
- Rapid discharge enabled by faster TTOs (outpatient prescriptions) and reduced stockouts
- Safe, compliant delivery of specialist medicines, including aseptic products and radioisotopes
Blood
- Reliable access to life-saving blood supplies, ensuring timely emergency care
- Supports national blood services in managing limited supplies
Hospital and Laboratory Logistics
- Cuts the cost of urgent and routine logistics services
- Unlocks productivity gains, helping healthcare teams achieve more with limited resources
Upstream Supply Chain and Third-Party Logistics
- Faster, more flexible inventory and distribution management
- Helps suppliers meet time-critical service level agreements
Case studies
28% cost saving on urgent deliveries vs ground couriers
Compared to dedicated urgent ad hoc courier vans in the Guy's and St Thomas' network with Synnovis, drones deliver an average 28% cost saving
Drones produce 98.4% fewer CO2 emissions than conventional ground vehicles and are 22x more energy efficient than electric delivery vans
Drone delivery reduced delivery duration from over 30 minutes to under 2 minutes for over 6,000 pathology samples, accelerating test turnaround times
Integration with electronic health records and laboratory information management systems automated workflows, saving staff time and optimising productivity
2.5hr average fulfilment time for medical devices (vs typical 48hrs)
At St Vincent's Private Clinic in Dublin, four-minute drone flights reduced fulfilment times across 231 deliveries to an average of 2.5 hours compared to a 48-hour service-level agreement
On-demand drone delivery reduced delays and improved inventory management, enabling broader stock offerings with reduced write-offs
In a city ranked as Europe’s second slowest for traffic, bypassing road congestion proved critical to cutting delays
Safe transport of blood by drone (peer-reviewed research)
In partnership with NHS Blood and Transplant, extensive validation demonstrated that blood can be safely transported by drone
Findings were published in the British Journal of Haematology ↗︎
Drones successfully completed 68km deliveries using long-range aircraft
Healthcare is changing. With Apian’s autonomous logistics, providers gain faster, safer and more sustainable ways to move critical supplies while also freeing staff time and improving productivity.
