By optimising usage of vehicles and routes, EMED Courier services has dramatically reduced the environmental impact of cervical screening sample logistics across Norfolk and Waveney.
New provider, new ideas
In April 2024, the Norfolk and Waveney (NAW) Integrated Care System (ICS) awarded EMED Courier Services a five-year contract to provide medical courier services across the ICS. The service involves the transportation of crucial specimens, surgical equipment, store items, pharmacy items and more throughout the Norfolk and Waveney region.
Whilst it was vital to provide a steady transition from the existing supplier, it was clear that there were areas of the service that would benefit from a fresh approach and EMED’s strong presence in the surrounding counties.
Tackling excessive mileage
Up to this point, the transport of cervical screening samples in Norfolk and Waveney had relied on four vehicles covering over 1,000 miles per day across various locations in Essex, Hertfordshire, Suffolk, and Cambridgeshire. However, inefficiencies plagued the process, leading to overlapping routes, excessive distances travelled, and resource wastage.
Leveraging our routes
Working closely with the customer, EMED Courier Services introduced a three-week trial to significantly reduce the daily mileage required to collect and transport cervical screening samples and reduce the carbon footprint of the service.
The plan was to leverage EMED’s existing courier routes in other contracts across Essex, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. By adding the collection of screening samples to these existing routes, EMED could take the NAW samples to shuttle points on the outskirts of each county, dramatically reducing the distance travelled for the NAW contract.
Reducing carbon footprint
At the end of the three-week trial, EMED Courier Services reduced the overall mileage in half to just 500 miles travelled per day. This was an annual saving of 130,000 miles for the screening service alone, and a reduction in over 53 tonnes of CO2e over the previous routes. The optimisation of routes also meant that we could reduce the number of vehicles by 25% to just three without any loss in service. The fourth vehicle and driver were repurposed to support other areas of the contract, further increasing capacity in the system.
The customer was so thrilled with the trial’s success that the solution has now been permanently implemented for all screening samples across Norfolk and Waveney.
By leveraging the comprehensive infrastructure developed by EMED Courier Services in the surrounding areas, Norfolk and Waveney now enjoy a much more efficient screening service that has improved the flow of samples to the laboratory whilst also reducing the environmental impact. This is a fantastic achievement for the benefit of both the patient and the planet and has helped support NAW to meet its obligations as part of the NHS Greener Programme.
The transformation of the screening service is the first step in a much more comprehensive plan of improvements across the contract. EMED is now exploring potential efficiencies in other pathology services for NAW such as working more closely with the local GPs to optimise routes for their specific bleed times.
We have been really impressed with the smooth transition of our courier services since the changeover of provider to EMED, there were concerns given the scale of the operation and the number of staff involved but any issues that have arisen have been dealt with in a very professional and swift manner and those concerns have now evaporated. One change already implemented which involved a changing of routes has provided a substantial weekly saving of mileage thus supporting the NHS green policy as well as improving the service, so we are very much looking forwards to further implementations and improvements that the team are able to provide over the length of the contract. Thank you to all the team at EMED who have adapted and delivered a first-rate service.
