GS1 project office opened at Leeds

A designated on-site GS1 project office has been opened at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust to support the implementation of GS1 standards.

The trust was chosen by the Department of Health to act as a demonstrator site of excellence for the use of GS1 and PEPPOL barcoding standards, which hope to significantly improve efficiencies, reduce errors and improve patient outcomes and safety.

As a demonstrator site, Leeds will receive a share of £12 million funding to implement the standards, and the opening of the designated office aims to better support the Trust in developing best practice for procurement and ensure the full potential of the GS1 standard is realised.

Tony Whitfield, director of finance at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: “We are delighted to be working on this exciting project, which will enhance patient safety while enabling us to have a much greater overview of all the items we use every day to look after 1.5 million patients every year, reducing waste. It will mean that every location, medicine and medical device will be identified using a unique barcode which is also associated with a particular patient, providing additional monitoring for safety purposes. It will make it easier to track individual patient journeys through our hospitals and ensure we only order the stock we need at the time we need it, delivering significant cost savings. We also see the broader opportunities the adoption of standards bring in, supporting us to deliver year-on-year improvements to the way we design services to best meet the needs of our patients.”

Glen Hodgson, head of healthcare at GS1 UK, said: “We are excited to work with the Leeds team to support the leadership of the GS1 implementation project, ensure delivery of implementation against the defined timelines and greatly improve the quality and safety of care.”