National standards and requirements
GS1 Standards in Healthcare
GS1 global standards provide the unique identification system that underpins Scan4Safety, enabling consistent identification of patients, products, places, and processes across NHS organisations.
- GS1 UK healthcare guidance
- GS1 10-step guide for healthcare providers implementing GS1 standards
- GS1 UK: A practical guide to using GS1 Global Location Numbers (GLNs) for the NHS – guidance on using GLNs to identify and manage locations across the healthcare estate, supporting traceability, inventory management and Scan4Safety implementation
- GS1 UK: Initial 10-step guide to support implementation of Global Location Numbers (GLNs) – a practical step-by-step guide to assigning and rolling out GLNs across an organisation
NHS Data Standards
- DCB1077 – Patient wristband identification standard
- DAPB0108 – NHS data standards for barcoding
- DCB0129 (for manufacturers) and DCB0160 (for health and care organisations) – Clinical safety standards for health IT systems
Blood Product Standards
- ISBT 128 – The international standard for medical products of human origin, used in blood product tracking
- GIAIs and GIAIs for sample management
Regulatory and Compliance Guidance
- Medical Device Outcomes Registry (MDOR) The MDOR is a national database recording high-risk medical device procedures. Data submission is mandatory for relevant procedures.
HSSIB Recommendations
The Health Services Safety Investigations Body has issued several recommendations related to Scan4Safety adoption and positive patient identification. These include:
- HSSIB national learning report: Positive patient identification
- HSSIB investigation: Implantation of wrong prostheses during joint replacement surgery
- HSSIB investigation: Selection and insertion of vascular grafts in haemodialysis patients
Strategic Policy Context
- 10-Year Health Plan for England
- NHS Patient Safety Strategy
- Digital Clinical Safety Strategy
- NHS Commercial Strategic Framework
- NHS Federated Data Platform
National evidence reports
- GS1 UK Scan4Safety Report 2026: Accelerating Scan4Safety adoption for safer, smarter healthcare — an independent evidence report drawing on 40 interviews with 29 health organisations across the UK and Ireland, alongside national cost data analysis. It sets out the safety, productivity and financial benefits being achieved where Scan4Safety has been implemented, and the scale of the opportunity still to be realised.
- GS1 UK: A Scan of the Benefits (2020) — the original Scan4Safety evidence report, covering the outcomes achieved by the six NHS demonstrator sites (Derby, Leeds, North Tees and Hartlepool, Plymouth, Royal Cornwall and Salisbury) during the 2016 to 2018 demonstrator programme.