Moorfields Pharmaceuticals implements bar codes to keep an eye on specialist medication
Hospitals request GS1 UK bar codes to automate their processes and improve patient safety

LONDON, 5 September 2007 -  GS1 UK, the independent supply chain data standards body, today announced that Moorfields Pharmaceuticals, an autonomous pharmaceutical manufacturing business unit of Moorfields Eye Hospital Foundation Trust, has implemented standardised bar coding to uniquely identify its range of unlicensed “specials” medicines. This process was implemented as a process improvement and following requests from its customers. The medicines are prescribed by doctors and pharmacists for exceptional requirements such as eye drops and solutions, when no licensed pharmaceutical product is available to fit the need of the patient. Bar codes using GS1 standards will help Moorfields Pharmaceuticals’ customers to facilitate the use of automated dispensing and ordering processes, improve stock control and match patient records to the right medication.

Moorfields Pharmaceuticals has over 100 product lines serving 3,000 customers, which were previously packaged in plain, white, labelled cartons. Customer demand and the need for clear and accurate identification led to a complete re-design of the packaging across all product lines, incorporating a colour-coded system and a standard bar code. The new standardised system is compatible with all of its customers’ IT infrastructures and will help remove the risk of mismatched information. 
 
“Providing our customers with a system to help guarantee that their patients are getting the right medication, at the right time, in the right dose, via the right route was crucial,” said Geoff Bartlett, Sales & Marketing Director, Moorfields Pharmaceuticals. “In just six months we have the bar codes in place and, for us, this relatively simple change has led to an increase in business and positive feedback from our customers”.

“Patient safety is at the top of the agenda for the NHS. Hospitals are under increasing pressure to automate their processes in order to reduce the chance of human error and increase efficiency,” said Gary Lynch, Chief Executive, GS1 UK. “We have provided ongoing support to Moorfields Pharmaceuticals to help them get the most out of bar codes, not just for their customers but to increase efficiencies in their own internal processes too. We hope this simple system will be applied across the NHS.”

About Moorfields Pharmaceuticals
The world famous Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, located at City Road, London, UK has invested in a sterile manufacturing facility to create Moorfields Pharmaceuticals, a manufacturing facility specialising in the manufacture and supply of sterile liquid products and Specials (unlicensed medicines). The facility is located in central London and currently employs 40 highly experienced staff.

The vast majority of the products Moorfields Pharmaceuticals makes are not manufactured anywhere else in the world. The facility’s historical remit was to enable clinicians and researchers to ensure patients receive the most appropriate treatment for their clinical conditions. This has resulted in staff at Moorfields Pharmaceuticals building up a reservoir of knowledge from manufacturing a vast array of different products, both unlicensed and licensed, often preservative free presented in unit dose form.

Moorfields Eye Hospital NHS Foundation Trust employs over 1000 people across 11 sites. In 2005, over 24,000 ophthalmic operations were carried out.  It is the oldest and largest specialist eye hospital in the world and collaborates in partnership with the Institute of Ophthalmology for research purposes; The Trust manages the largest ongoing ophthalmic research programme in the world.

The pharmaceutical manufacturing facility at Moorfields was created to meet the requirements of clinicians at the very beginnings of modern ophthalmic medical practice two hundred years ago.
www.moorfieldspharmaceuticals.co.uk

About GS1 UK
GS1 UK has driven innovation in the supply chain for over thirty years. It is part of the global GS1 organisation, dedicated to the development and implementation of global data standards and solutions for the supply chain.  GS1 standards are the most widely used in the world. 

GS1 UK aims to make it faster, more cost effective and safer for our members to serve their customers through the industry wide adoption of global GS1 standards and locally delivered services.  GS1 UK helps industry to implement these data standards through the use of bar codes, RFID, Global Data Synchronisation (GDS) and electronic business messaging. www.gs1uk.org

For more information contact:

Lisa Henshaw or Kirsty Sewter
Fourth Day PR
+44 (0)20 7403 4411

Suraya Adnan-Ariffin
GS1 UK
+44 (0)20 70923575

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