The first-of-its-kind trial began in late November with the Helper Bot navigating itself from point A to point B within the hospital and will continue with operational trials in 2023 where the Helper Bot will deliver medicines along specific routes to assist hospital staff. The trial will initially focus on addressing challenges associated with care delays caused by increased demand on logistical activities such as the movement of medicines, specimens, and clinical supplies throughout the hospital. It comes after a year of technological development in close collaboration with hospital staff. Academy of Robotics is best known for being one of the first organisations to use its distinctive electric autonomous vehicle, Kar-go, to deploy self-driving vehicles on UK roads. The company has a long history of developing technology to help employees, particularly in the public sector. Milton’s technology expands on Kar-previous go’s work, which included delivering medicines to people’s homes during the Covid-19 pandemic and running logistical errands for RAF personnel at RAF Brize Norton. The Academy of Robotics used several systems developed for its Kar-go self-driving delivery vehicles to help Milton navigate around obstacles such as people, wheelchairs, and beds inside a hospital when developing this technology. Milton, the Helper Bot, will learn to safely navigate the environment between the hospital’s pharmacy and a selected in-patient ward as part of the trial to test how similar robots can be used to collect non-controlled medication and securely deliver it to ward staff. Milton would be used to assist the busy Pharmacy team by collecting medication from the in-patient pharmacy and delivering it across campus on some of the hospital’s most difficult routes, where it would be unloaded by ward staff. MKUH has already successfully implemented a number of new processes and automations, including the implementation of a surgical robot to aid complex surgeries in colorectal, gynaecology, and general surgery, as well as an integrating artificial intelligence across Imaging, allowing staff to see all the information they need about a patient to improve decision-making. The ‘Milton’ Helper Bot was created in collaboration with hospital staff through a series of online engagements and in-person design-thinking workshops attended by hospital employees from a variety of departments such as pharmacy, pathology, estates, and support services. In addition to the final design, the name ‘Milton’ was chosen through an internal poll. The collaboration with MKUH, which is largely funded by the Academy of Robotics, began in early 2022, with the first trial in a hospital setting taking place in November 2022, followed by additional testing in early 2023. The trial’s data and feedback will be used to determine how this technology can be safely scaled across the hospital site in the future, as well as its potential for use across the NHS. Across the hospital, our Pharmacy team does an incredible job to ensure that our patients receive the medication they need to return home in a timely manner,” says Professor Joe Harrison, Chief Executive at Milton Keynes University Hospital. We are collaborating with the Academy of Robotics team to introduce new technology that can work alongside our existing workforce to enable faster delivery and relieve some of the strain on our teams. This trial is an opportunity to test the technology’s safety and efficacy, and we will continue to work closely with all teams involved to understand how it can be used most effectively in the future.” How people feel when they interact with technology is also particularly important in a hospital,” explains William Sachiti, Founder and CEO of Academy of Robotics. We build some of the most complex machines on the planet. It is very important to us why we make them and how such machines are used. These Helper Bots are designed to make life easier for both hospital staff and patients by being present when needed and out of the way when not. We hope that this technology will provide a positive experience for all, and as we scale up the programme, we will continue to test and improve both the technology and the experience it creates.”
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