A company is using drones to transport COVID-19 samples and medical equipment between hospitals and labs in the UK.

The drone carries medical supplies and samples between facilities.Skyports.

Skyports piloted the project last year across four or five health facilities in some of the most rural areas of Scotland.

Alex Brown, director of drone services at Skyports, told Insider that there was already a need to experiment with drones in the healthcare space, but COVID-19 was the "catalyst" to get the idea going.

The drone takes off like a helicopter.Skyports.

Alex said the company selected the Argyll & Bute Region in Scotland to pilot the drones because the harsh coastline, as well as the remoteness of the area, causes delays in testing when medical samples are transported via the roads.

The drone carries medical supplies and samples between facilities.Skyports.

When samples are transported via vans, it takes around 18 hours to get results back, Alex said. "If you live in central London and get a blood test, it is tested within an hour and you get your results a couple of hours after that ... it's really frustrating for people who use other health services," he added.

The drone carries medical supplies and samples between facilities.Skyports.

Once the sample is given at a particular hospital, healthcare staff can order the drone which arrives within an hour. The sample is tested within the next hour and patients get their results two hours after that, Alex told Insider.

Samples are loaded into a cargo box and placed inside the drone.Skyports.

"It takes what previously would have been a 24-48 hour turnaround and reduced it to a 3-4 hour turnaround from test to result," he added.

Samples are loaded into a cargo box and placed inside the drone.Skyports.

Skyports tested more than 900 patients' medical samples within the three-month pilot period, Alex said. "Probably 30% of what we carried was COVID tests," he said. Medical staff would also add other items, including pathology samples and medical equipment, to the deliveries.

Samples are loaded into a cargo box and placed inside the drone.Skyports.

Alex told Insider that the drones collectively saved 12,000 hours of waiting time for patients across the three-month period.

A Skyports drone.Skyports.

The drones are around two meters wide, weighing a total of 20 kilograms, Alex said. They can each carry around 60 individual samples.

Drones are around two meters wideSkyports.

The samples are placed inside a small cargo box, which sits inside the drone. "The best way to think of it is probably like a small shoebox," Alex said. A pilot situated at Oban hospital — where Skyports based themselves — would then control and track the drone.

The drone carries medical supplies and samples between facilities.Skyports.

The drones take off like a helicopter, before taking on the shape of a plane to fly. "Drones get a bit of a bad rep, because of people who get their drone on amazon, go find a park and annoy the neighbor ... These are so different," Alex told Insider.

The drones take off like a helicopter.Skyports.

The company plans to launch two more pilot programmes across health services in Ipswich, England and Montrose, Scotland, where they will also trial a ship-to-shore service this year.

The drone carries medical supplies and samples between facilities.Skyports.

The ship-to-shore service —which is operational in Singapore — is used to transport necessities such as oil samples and welfare items for crew members as the ship waits outside the port to dock.

Skyports will use the drones to transports necessities from shores to ships this year.Skyports.

"What you would have seen there is just little boats constantly going back and forth carrying cargo," Alex said, adding that drones are a more effective way of carrying the smaller items.

Skyports will use the drones to transports necessities from shores to ships this year.Skyports