How Scan4Safety works

Using unique identifiers, enabled by globally recognised GS1 barcode standards, Scan4Safety ensures every device, consumable, or medicine is correctly assigned to the right patient, reducing risks from misidentification or incorrect treatment. It also transforms inventory and supply chain management, enabling NHS organisations to track items from supplier to patient, supporting data capture and swift action for recalls, expiry management and stock optimisation.

Scan4Safety enables NHS organisations to record the exact location where care is delivered and who was involved, building a complete and transparent history of care, while embedding robust, standardised scanning procedures that comply with safety standards and support accurate reporting.

Barcodes aren’t new or experimental technology. We use them daily when shopping, travelling, or managing logistics. They keep global supply chains running, ensure airline passengers and luggage arrive at the same destination, and enable parcel tracking from warehouse to doorstep. Their reliability is proven across countless industries – making their application to healthcare both logical and essential.

The NHS faces several challenges that Scan4Safety is designed to address:

Key NHS challenges Scan4Safety addresses

Patient safety risks

Misidentification, medical product mix-ups, and manual recording errors cause preventable harm. High-profile safety failures highlighted in the Cumberlege Review, Paterson Inquiry, Infected Blood Inquiry, and PIP breast implants scandal demonstrate the devastating consequences of inadequate traceability and delayed recalls.

Administrative burden

Across the NHS, countless hours are lost each day to searching for equipment, reconciling stock, manually entering data and correcting records. This administrative burden reduces the time available for direct patient contact when the NHS needs every minute of clinical expertise.

Limited visibility

Tracking of implants, devices, and consumables is fragmented across the NHS, slowing recall response and weakening supply chain resilience. Without accurate, real-time data, inventory management becomes reactive rather than strategic, leading to inefficient procurement and stock shortages. When safety issues arise, identifying affected patients takes weeks instead of hours.

Rising costs

Inefficient stock control and duplication waste millions in already stretched NHS budgets. An estimated 237 million medication errors occur annually, while surgical claims cost over £195 million in 2021/22 alone.

Unequal adoption

While some trusts benefit from Scan4Safety, many do not, creating inequity in safety and efficiency across the NHS. Patients receive different levels of protection depending on where they’re treated.

Why now?

Patient safety and the 10-year health plan’s shift from analogue to digital are national priorities. Scan4Safety uses digital systems to directly reduce preventable harm by ensuring the right care is delivered every time. At the same time, it helps frontline staff by releasing time back to care, giving them more capacity for patients.

“It’s changing the experience for all of our users… our patients, by making sure we have the right product in the right place at the right time.”

Tom Burton, Director of Finance, The Princess Alexandra Hospital NHS Trust

With the NHS under significant financial pressure, Scan4Safety provides a solution that delivers both savings and quality improvement. The original Scan4Safety demonstrator sites together reported £5.6 million in savings in just the first year of implementation, while NHS Supply Chain’s pilot programme is delivering a five-to-one return on investment.

Wider adoption is critical to address inequity, as variation in implementation currently leaves patients and staff with inconsistent levels of safety and efficiency. Scan4Safety directly supports national priorities for digital transformation, supply chain resilience, and patient safety improvement, making it both timely and essential.

“Scan4Safety is a pioneering initiative to bring 21st century data standards to our everyday work in the NHS. Initiatives such as Scan4Safety are crucial for becoming an efficient, modern teaching hospital.”

Julian Hartley, Chief Executive, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

How do GS1 standards support Scan4Safety?

Central to Scan4Safety are GS1 global standards needed to:

• Uniquely identify people, products, and places
• Enable interoperability across NHS systems
• Ensure consistency in data collection and sharing

As a not-for-profit organisation, GS1 UK works with NHS trusts, suppliers, and system providers to implement these standards effectively and consistently across the healthcare system.

Find out more on the GS1 UK website.

The strategic imperative

Scan4Safety aligns with the NHS 10-Year Plan, NHS Patient Safety Strategy, Digital Clinical Safety Strategy, and NHS Net Zero ambitions. It’s a proven solution that enables safer care, improves resource use, and reduces waste, helping deliver on multiple national objectives simultaneously.

The opportunity is clear: accelerate adoption, standardise approaches, and embed Scan4Safety as a core part of NHS patient safety and operational excellence. Every scan protects patients, saves time, and strengthens the NHS.

Ready to explore further?

Use the links below to navigate to other parts of the ‘Why Scan4Safety?’ section: