July 27, 2014 Opinion piece
Following the publication of the Department of Health’s eProcurement Strategy in May 2014, all NHS trusts are required to produce a board-approved adoption plan for implementing GS1 standards.
In June 2014 we hosted a conference to provide education around GS1 standards – what they are, where they can be applied and how they work – for trusts and other healthcare businesses.
The presentations revealed a clear roadmap for how to get started with the adoption plan. The actual process of achieving full GS1 standards adoption will not happen overnight; every trust will be at a different stage of implementation already, and full compliance may be phased-in over a period of a few years in some cases.
We recommend that all trusts ensure that they undertake the following three actions now in order to get some momentum behind meeting the requirements of the Strategy:
Prove the business case – every NHS trust is also a business and implementing GS1 standards may require some investment in new systems and working practices. This means that there is financial commitment involved, so the case must be made that does not just focus on the imperative of the Government mandate, but that also stresses the benefits in terms of long-term procurement cost savings, operational efficiencies, time savings for front-line staff and improved patient safety. The Nursing Technology Fund from NHS England will make £70m available during 2014-15.
Find an executive advocate to drive the project – while patient safety is of paramount importance, procurement is often not very high on the board’s agenda. However, with budgets under so much strain, the guidance provided in the eProcurement Strategy offers clear long-term benefits and cost savings to ease this strain. It is important to find an executive board member who can become the champion for driving the Strategy through. Providing examples of early adopters of the technology and the impact that has already had for their trusts can perform a key role in securing an advocate.
Get started on an area of adoption now –every trust is at a different stage of compliance and starting to put a plan together should reveal areas where quick gains can be made. In most cases the obvious initial area of focus will be location identification (using Global Location Numbers or ‘GLNs’) and patient identification (in line with NHS ISB 1077), these provide the best practical platforms from which to build.
Achieving widespread adoption of GS1 standards throughout the NHS requires investment in the supporting systems and processes that need to be rolled out, but the intention behind the eProcurement Strategy is to support the evolution of the NHS and help it overcome the multiple long-term challenges it faces.
Significant Momentum will need to build up in order to successfully implement the guidance set out in the eProcurement Strategy, and undertaking the above three actions now will ensure that trusts get off to a strong start and enable them to scale at pace.
Chris Doyle, Head of Health, GS1 UK