Why UK is Ranked #1 - Quality of Care for Cost of Service
GS1 Conference Chicago Day 2 Updates: Canada is ranked #9 globally out of 11 in an overall ranking of health care systems in the Commonwealth Fund developed nations 2014 ranking. However, this ranking isn’t due to lack of spending, we are ranked #7 out of 11 on healthcare expenditures per capita – in the middle of the pack. Part of our lower overall rating relates to “Quality Care” as we scored low in the categories of Safe Care, Coordinated Care, and Patient-Centered Care. No surprise to any Canadian, we also scored at the very bottom of the list for Timeliness of Care.
The UK, which scored at the top of the list, is actively working to make further improvements. A major presentation on day 1 in Chicago centered on quality care and patient safety using barcoding with track and traceability systems which are used in the UK, Australia, Germany, and other countries. Four UK Healthcare Trusts (small regional groups) presented very interesting presentations on supply chain wins and how they track every patient and everything that they receive from entry to exit by using GS1 Global bar codes and standards.
Representatives from 4 UK Trusts presented detailed case studies on how they are each utilizing GS1 Global standards to improve patient care and efficiency.
- Keith Jones, Clinical Director of Surgery, Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK identified the key benefits of using GS1 Global standards. These included error-free trading, better stock management, faster processing and payments, improving patient safety through preventing counterfeit medicines, recall processes, and improving clinical productivity to allow for more time caring for patients.
- Lorna Wilkinson, the Director of Nursing at Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, UK, gave a nurse's perspective highlighting how product tracking is improving patient safety while reducing the time nurses and hospital staff need to spend on managing expiry dates, product recalls, and re-ordering stock.
- Iain Davidson, Chief Pharmacist & CCIO at Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, UK provided insight into how barcodes and GTINs are helping reduce medication-related harm by reducing administration errors by 23% after only 1 year and 66% after 5 years.
To see the full presentation follow this link: httpss://healthcare-event.gs1.org/sites/default/files/5_panel_healthcare_professionals_-_different_viewpoints.pdf