The Rotunda Hospital in Dublin and drone delivery company Manna have teamed up to test the possibility of making urgent medical deliveries by drone, eliminating traffic delays for the city centre hospital.
A flight simulation between the Rotunda and Connolly Hospital in Blanchardstown showcased the potential benefits of safely transporting medical supplies, blood and pathology samples between hospitals and laboratories, improving patient care and reducing delays.
Medical tests are currently sent to a number of locations around Dublin for processing, with contracts in place with specialist transport companies and taxi firms. However, road deliveries are often subject to delays caused by traffic congestion and some pathology tests may be more urgent than the standard delivery schedule can accommodate. Drones offer the prospect of quicker journey times while also being more readily available for deliveries.
“Between the Rotunda and our major centres for referral – Irish Blood Transfusion Service, St James’s Hospital and the new children’s hospital – the flight time would be three or four minutes,” said John O’Loughlin, laboratory manager at the Rotunda.
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The trial is an early step towards implementing the service, providing proof of its efficacy. However, any live operations between hospitals would need approval from regulators before they commence.
Manna co-founder Bobby Healy said the drones could be fitted with temperature controls necessary for transporting some medical supplies. Each drone can make eight trips an hour, and has a flight range of about 16km.
“We have what we need to do the urgent trips. The tech and the airspace support it. The national drone framework is expressly set up to give priority to these types of flights,” he said. “We have so many things in place, we are in a unique position here to do something really meaningful.”
The drones could also be used to move critical supplies between hospitals when needed, O’Loughlin said, and have the potential to transform how healthcare is supported in Ireland.
[ What next for Dublin city’s Rotunda hospital after move to Connolly ruled out?Opens in new window ]
“We are at the start of a process and there will be different needs,” O’Loughlin said. “We are planning for that one urgent sample but there would be a lot of traditional logistics that could be more sustainably delivered by drone, or through a drone-hybrid model.”
Trials in the UK have shown benefits, with drones reducing blood sample transport times between Guy’s Hospital and St Thomas’ Hospital in London from more than 30 minutes by road to under two minutes by drone. A similar trial for GPs in Dorset saw drones reduce delivery times by an average of 83 per cent.
“We’ve proven this technology works at scale. What we’re showing now is how it can be applied in healthcare where minutes matter,” said Alan Hicks, chief technology officer at Manna.
The trial is not the first medical innovation for Manna. In 2024, Manna took part in a simulation for the delivery of automatic external defibrillator (AED) equipment to community first responders.
