London, 09 November 2023 - GS1 UK has announced Stephen Bush, Medical Director for Operations at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust (LTHT), has been appointed to the supervisory board as a non-executive director.
Steve has long been a champion of GS1 standards in healthcare and will play a crucial role in deepening GS1 UK’s engagement with clinical stakeholders across the four nations.
A highly experienced clinician with first-hand experience of standards implementation, Steve works clinically as a consultant in emergency medicine. Prior to his role as Medical Director of LTHT, he spent 10 years Clinical Director for Emergency and Specialty Medicine for 10 years, driving change and innovation to help the Trust deliver the best possible care to patients.
He currently chairs the Leeds Same Day Response Care Delivery Board, the Leeds Clinical and Professional Forum, was previously chair of the Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Programme in the UK and is Chair of ATLS Europe.
As chair of the Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust Scan4Safety Board, Steve has overseen the adoption of GS1 standards across one of the largest acute NHS Trusts in the UK.
Since becoming one of the six demonstrator sites to participate in the 2016 Scan4Safety pilot programme, LTHT has seen a number of transformative benefits. Efficiency and patient safety have been significantly improved by implementing point-of-care scanning and linking information from barcodes to electronic patient records (EPR) and patient administration systems (PAS), the time taken to process product recalls has fallen from 8 days to less than 35 minutes and over £2.3 million of cumulative savings were reported in the first year alone.
Building on the core principles of Scan4Safety - using unique data to identify every person, product, and place – Steve and his colleagues are now looking to translate this into optimising Electronic Bed and Capacity Management (EBCM) across the Trust.
Steve’s appointment reflects GS1 UK’s commitment to accelerating the adoption standards to keep patients and consumers informed and protected. With his proven track record of successfully implementing GS1 standards to improve patient safety and many years of clinical experience, he will provide vital support as GS1 UK collaborate with stakeholders across the NHS to enable the delivery of better and safer services, improved productivity and supply chain efficiency.
Commenting on his appointment, Mr Bush said: “I’m hugely excited to join the GS1 UK Supervisory Board as a Non-Executive Director. Utilising Global Standards in Healthcare across the UK has already delivered meaningful and lasting improvements for patients as part of the Scan4Safety Programme.
"I look forward to working with Board colleagues to expand these benefits for our patients and staff, utilising the strength of the vast and diverse membership of GS1 UK to continue to innovate in the Healthcare sector.”
Chris Tyas OBE, chair of GS1 UK, said: “I am thrilled to welcome Steve to the board. He not only shares our belief that data will play a vital role in building a more efficient, effective and safer health service, he has witnessed the impact of GS1 standards first-hand and has a full understanding of what is required to support successful implementation.
"Steve’s contribution will be of great value to our organisation as we deepen our engagement with clinical stakeholders across the NHS, helping the health services of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland harness to power of trusted data to save time, money and lives."
-ENDS-
Notes to editors
For further information or requests for interviews, contact Alex Cox: 07464 946 769; alexander.cox@gs1uk.org.
About GS1 UK
Whether online, in store or in a hospital, the common language of GS1 global standards is helping our community of more than 58,000 organisations across the UK to uniquely identify, describe and track anything, creating greater trust in data for everyone.
From product barcodes to patient wristbands, GS1 standards have been transforming the way we work and live for nearly 50 years.
GS1 UK is one of 116 neutral and independent GS1 organisations operating worldwide.
About Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is one of the largest and busiest acute hospital trusts in the UK, treating over 1.7 million patients in the last year alone.
The Trust’s care and clinical expertise is delivered from seven hospitals on five sites, all joined by a vision to be the best for specialist and integrated care. It plays important role in the training and education of medical, nursing and dental students, and we are a centre for world-class research, innovation and pioneering new treatments.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust contributes to life in the Leeds region, not only by being one of the largest employers with more than 21,000 staff, but by supporting the health and well-being of the community and playing a leading role in research, education and innovation.