Complexities and capabilities of Scan4Safety in NHS hospitals: a qualitative study of a national demonstrator site (14 January 2026)

Summary

A study supported by the NIHR North West London PSRC examined the implementation of the Scan4Safety programme at an NHS demonstrator site to understand the hospital experience of adopting barcoding technologies and standards to improve patient safety and quality of care. Researchers found that using standardised data to identify patients, products, places and procedures, Scan4Safety helps build a robust information infrastructure across both internal and external hospital supply chains, with the potential to deliver significant value to patients, clinicians and the NHS.

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