NHS England is trying out drones to deliver chemotherapy drugs.
The national health care provider is beginning a pilot scheme - starting in Portsmouth to a hospital on the Isle of Wight - to speed up the process of getting much needed treatment to people.
They hope it leads to “same day delivery” of orders nationwide.
Amanda Pritchard, NHS England’s CEO believes the pilot - which will also be kicked off in Northumbria later - is “extraordinary”.
If it all goes to plan, it will be the first healthcare service to deliver chemo drugs via drone.
The plan - which was part of the 74th year of the National Health Service - proved to Amanda how "clear that the pace of change and improvement across the health service is only accelerating.
She said: "Delivering chemo by drone is another extraordinary development for cancer patients and shows how the NHS will stop at nothing to ensure people get the treatment they need as promptly as possible - while also cutting costs.”
The plan intends to shorten the delivery times to half an hour as it currently stands at four hours and remove the need for two car journeys and hovercraft or ferry to the Isle of Wight’s St Mary’s Hospital from the Portsmouth University NHS Trust.
A NHS spokesperson told the BBC that chemo drugs were challenging to transport as they had small time window where they could be out of clinical settings. In addition, they stressed how it could remove the need for residents to leave the island to get treatment.
Health Secretary, Sajid Javid outlined his desire for England to "become a world leader in cancer care" and using the drones would mean patients "will have quicker, fairer access to treatment, no matter where they live".
