November 18, 2015 Industry news
At our recent AGM and briefing session - Unlocking the power of standards – Glen Hodgson, Head of Healthcare, explained the additional benefits that GS1 standards bring to healthcare.
“We all know the benefits that GS1 standards bring to supply chain and procurement, but in healthcare it brings even more – starting with patient safety,” explained Glen. “If GS1 standards had been adopted consistently throughout the healthcare industry when the PIP breast implant scandal happened four years ago then there wouldn’t still be over 30,000 women with potentially sub-standard implants that couldn’t be easily traced. During the same period we had the horsemeat scandal, yet it took Tesco just a matter of hours to identify and take potentially suspect products off the shelves. We can do it in retail. We can’t do it – yet – in healthcare."
Glen then explained how GS1 standards can allow every person, every product and every place to be uniquely identified within the healthcare system. “This helps to prevent medical errors and gives certainty of truth. It allows hospital managers and senior clinicians to know who did what, to whom, when they did it, where they did it, and with which surgical implant, instrument, device or drug. Not only can we help to reduce errors, but in today’s world of severe financial challenge for the NHS we can enable significant reductions in cost and risk."
Glen was joined on stage by Owen Inglis Humphrey of the Department of Health and Jackie Pomroy, Head of Supply Chain at South of England Procurement Services. Owen talked about the progress that has been made since the publication of the eProcurement strategy in 2014, which mandated the use of GS1 standards for any service or product procured by an NHS Acute Trust in England.
His key points included how the Department of Health is publishing a timetable, stating how and when all major suppliers must be compliant with GS1 standards to continue trading with the NHS. He also explained that in December, six English NHS Acute Trusts will be announced as funded demonstrator sites, and how over the next two years these sites will bring to life the benefits – and challenges – of adopting GS1 standards throughout every aspect of their organisation.
Jackie explained the specific challenges she faced when reviewing Portsmouth NHS Trust’s inventory systems and processes back in 2012. You can watch her story below.
“We’ve now implemented our inventory management system across a 27 theatre complex with 40 supporting locations, cardiology, audiology and six wards to date, reducing stock by 20% and waste to less than 1%,” commented Jackie. “Clinical staff now trust our data and processes and they no longer take or order stock themselves. This is a significant and positive change.”
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