NHS to save millions with barcode procurement

NHS hospitals will save millions by using barcodes to streamline the way in which they pay for products, according to health minister Simon Burns.

This system will use standard GS-1 barcodes on products to bring together the many systems currently used to procure goods, which can lead to widely differing prices being paid for the same products.

The government is urging suppliers to identify and label their products with GS-1 barcodes, but it is not mandating the process. It hopes all products will carry, or be identifiable by, GS-1 barcodes by the end of 2012.

The Department of Health will launch a central procurement of GS-1 barcoding systems imminently.

Burns argued that the system has the potential to improve patient safety by reducing medication errors, the risk of wrong-site surgery, and the effective tracking and tracing of surgical instruments. This will help improve record-keeping.

Burns said: "This is a vital opportunity to save money for reinvestment in front-line care at a time when the NHS needs to make efficiency savings."

Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is already using barcoding and said it has saved more than £500,000 in the first year.

By scanning barcodes when equipment is used on wards, the system can track available stocks and forecast future orders.