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Tracking initiative progressing well

Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust,a leader in improving patient safety,reducing clinical variation and driving operational efficiency in theatre, has implemented GS1 bar codes in an effort to improve patient safety and realise cost efficiencies. Glen Hodgson, head of healthcare at GS1 UK, examines what benefits this has brought to the Trust.

Three years ago, Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust realised they needed to make a change in their theatres. Their acute hospital, the Royal Derby, had been built over 10 years ago with 35 operating theatres, considered more than enough at the time, and now they were all full. Short of building more theatres, they needed to find a solution that would maximise their efficiency and usage – without compromising patient safety. The solution was to track and trace every person, every product and every place that formed part of an operating procedure, and that was done using GS1 barcodes.

Leading the Scan4Safety programme

Derby started this process three years ago, before the Department of Health announced their eProcurement strategy. Released in 2014, the strategy outlined a range of measures for greater transparency and efficiency in NHS procurement, including a mandate that means any service or product procured by an acute Trust in England must be compliant with GS1 standards. In 2016, this was backed up by a £12 million investment from the Department of Health for six demonstrator Trusts who would show the benefits, and challenges, of GS1 implementation. Derby were chosen as one of those Trusts and are part of the programme, now known as Scan4Safety. 

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Upcoming Events

Central Sterilising Club - Annual Scientific Meeting 2024

Crowne Plaza at Gerrard’s Cross
15th April 2024 – 16th April 2024

DECON UK 2024

National Conference Centre, Birmingham
17th April 2024

Infection Prevention & Control

National Conference Centre, Birmingham
23rd - 24th April 2024

Theatres & Decontamination Conference 2024

Coventry Building Society Arena
16th May 2024

The AfPP Roadshow - Birmingham

Millennium Point, Birmingham
18th May 2024

The AfPP Roadshow - Exeter

University of Exeter
22nd June 2024

Access the latest issue of Clinical Services Journal on your mobile device together with an archive of back issues.

Download the FREE Clinical Services Journal app from your device's App store

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