The Government hopes to boost efficiency and save the National Health Service millions in extra bed days with the introduction of patient identifying bar coding technology.
In an announcement by Lord Hunt this week, bar-coded wristbands for patients and a bar code reader could be used to verify the patient's identity at any time, and be an extra check that the right patient is about to received the right care.
At present errors, many of which are caused by getting the patient identity wrong, cost the NHS around £2 billion in extra bed days. Auto-identification could make a significant impact on this cost, Lorh Hunt insisted..
On a visit to a safe surgery site at Birmingham Heartlands NHS Trust thisweek, where he also launched a strategy document on using auto -identification and data capture (AIDC) technologies. Heartlands Hospital has improved patient identification and checking procedures by using radiofrequency identification tags in a day surgery unit have improved efficiency so that an extra minor or intermediate procedure can be done on each list. This will save the Trust £270,000 per year.
"The work of Birmingham Heartlands is a fine example of how technology can reduce patient mistakes and waiting times for operations and free up staff to spend more time on the wards with patients.
"Auto-identification is not a new technology - we've all been used to bar codes in supermarkets for years. But to reap the benefits in healthcare everyone needs to work to agreed standards.”
Ministers are recommending that both industry and the NHS should use the GS1 System for coding, and Lord Hunt added that GS1UK would be providing membership and support to NHS organisations who want to explore this technology.
The strategy document Coding for success - simple technology for safer patient care aims to encourage further use of product coding on a voluntary basis within industry and sets out a programme of action that will facilitate change both in the NHS and industry on a voluntary basis. For a copy of the publication Coding for Success: simple technology for safer patient care, see: http://www.dh.gov.uk 
