To kick off the Department of Health’s recently announced GS1 demonstrator site programme, GS1 UK and Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust have agreed to work together, to deliver the full benefits of GS1 standards for patients and the taxpayer. A designated GS1 Project Office has been opened on-site to provide further support to the project leadership, helping to develop best practice for procurement and assisting with the delivery of full GS1 implementation against the defined timelines.
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trusts is one of the six NHS Acute Trusts chosen by the Department of Health that will act as demonstrator sites of excellence for the use of GS1and PEPPOL (Pan European Public Procurement On-Line) standards. The Trust, one of the biggest in the country, offers a wide range of both general and specialist hospital services. It will receive support and a share of £12m to demonstrate the significant efficiencies and cost savings, reduced errors and improved patient outcomes and patient safety from using GS1 standards.
Tony Whitfield, Director of Finance at The Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, said: ‘We are delighted to be working on this exciting project, which will enhance patient safety while enabling us to have a much greater overview of all the items we use every day to look after 1.5 million patients every year, reducing waste. It will mean that every location, medicine and medical device will be identified using a unique barcode which is also associated with a particular patient, providing additional monitoring for safety purposes. It will make it easier to track individual patient journeys through our hospitals and ensure we only order the stock we need at the time we need it, delivering significant cost savings.
‘We also see the broader opportunities the adoption of standards bring in, supporting us to deliver year-on-year improvements to the way we design services to best meet the needs of our patients.’
Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust is participating, along with other demonstrator sites, in the annual GS1 UK Healthcare Conference on 12-13 April 2016, which is headlined by Lord David Prior, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for NHS Productivity. Tony Whitfield, Director of Finance and Chris Slater, Head of Supplies & Procurement from the Trust will outline in detail what it means to be a GS1 demonstrator site and showcase the Leeds way when it comes to implementing GS1 standards. Other speakers at the conference include senior hospital clinical, finance and procurement directors and managers who will share their perspectives, expertise and experience, focusing on the real-life benefits of GS1 standards.
Glen Hodgson, Head of Healthcare at GS1 UK, said: ‘We are excited to work with the Leeds team to support the leadership of the GS1 implementation project, ensure delivery of implementation against the defined timelines and greatly improve the quality and safety of care. We look forward to welcoming them at our upcoming healthcare conference where they’ll showcase their commitment in championing and driving forward the adoption of GS1 and PEPPOL standards.’
