Healthcare resources

Helpful guides to support your journey as you implement GS1 standards.

Here you will find information on how to adopt GS1 standards across the three core enablers (people, products and places), how to apply these to specific use cases such as surgical instrument traceability, and details on supporting regulatory requirements.

Take a look at our detailed guidelines for expert advice to support you along the way.

Starting with the core enablers

Patient

Patient identification

"How-to" guide for using GS1 standards for patient ID.
Staff

Staff identification

"How-to" guide for using GS1 standards for staff ID.
Product

Product identification

"How-to" guide for using GS1 standards for product ID.
Place

Place management

"How-to" guide for using GS1 standards for place management.

Getting the use cases right

GS1 hospital surgery image

Surgical instrument traceability high-level guide

High-level guide to standards required by systems with surgical-instrument tracking functionality.
Surgical instrument tray

Surgical instrument traceability guidance

A guide to using GS1 standards to improve traceability and increase the reliability of data for managing surgical instruments.
Product scanning for inventory management

Inventory management systems guidance

Guidance for healthcare organisations and suppliers for inventory management systems and GS1 standards.

Technologies and compliance

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Compliance specification for NHS systems

A guide for healthcare providers and solution providers on procuring and providing GS1-compliant solutions.
Surgical instruments

Technologies for marking surgical instruments

A guide to the various AIDC technologies that can be used to identify individual surgical instruments.

Standards and regulation

FSCA guidance image

Field Safety Corrective Actions

Recommendations on medical device and IVD FSCAs and recalls using UDI and GS1 standards.
Surgical instruments procedure image

Barcoding OPCS-4 and ICD-10 Codes GS1 UK Implementation Guidelines

Aligning GS1 standards with coding schemes for procedures and diagnostics.
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GS1 distribution and shipping of biologicals

How SSCC identification and GS1 XML Despatch Advice Messages can be used to carry ISBT-128 identifiers and codes.

Case studies and global reference books

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GS1 UK healthcare case study portal

Explore healthcare case studies from GS1 UK members, partners, and suppliers, from across the UK.
COVID vaccination image

GS1 global healthcare reference book 2021-22

Read our 2021-22 healthcare case studies from around the world.
GS1 hospital inventory management

GS1 global healthcare reference book 2020-21

Explore our 2020-21 array of international healthcare case studies.