Barcodes to make hospitals safer

A supermarket style barcode scanning system could revolutionise hospital safety and save the NHS millions of pounds, according to the Department of Health. The technology - used in retail for decades - has been tested in six hospitals in a programme called Scan4Safety. It can help determine whether products are safe to use and still in date, slash needless stockpiling and also help track patients who have been given implants which turn out to be faulty. After tests in Derby, Leeds, Salisbury, Cornwall, North Tees and Plymouth, scanning could soon be rolled out across all Trusts in England. Figures show each hospital would save £11million a year by adopting the scheme.