Current National Health Service Logistics Practices

The UK NHS supply chain is complex, consisting of a centralised logistics operation moving core stock to NHS sites from suppliers, but also, many bespoke and specialised transport operations functioning at a local level, overseen by individual NHS Trusts.

These localised transport operations are focused on the collection of patient diagnostic specimens (e.g., blood, urine and stool samples sent to pathology laboratories for analysis). Tests undertaken at doctors’ surgeries and community clinics are transported to pathology hubs based at larger hospitals through networks of daily van rounds. The requirement to transport diagnostic specimens within a fixed time window (e.g., within 4 hours maximum in-transit time or sometimes shorter timescales) dictates how routes are planned. Finding the right balance between the quality of patient care whilst considering costs, energy consumption and emissions is a challenge for the NHS, particularly because in many cases faster service times (e.g., those offered by drone logistics) do not necessarily translate into improved patient outcomes due to delays inherent in other parts of the wider healthcare system.

The E-Drone project used interviews, observations, and analysis of secondary data to analyse current NHS logistics practices associated with the movement of time-sensitive items. Existing challenges associated with transporting and processing routine patient diagnostic specimens were identified, including issues such as afternoon peaks in deliveries of specimens to pathology laboratories having a detrimental effect on efficient workflows, some patient groups being compelled to travel to hospital for specimens to be taken (e.g., to ensure fast-tracking) rather than being able to use local community clinics, rigid routes of pathology vans are not able to respond to changes in demand (e.g., due to late running clinics or when there are no specimens to collect).