The new NHS eProcurement Strategy published last month requires all NHS Trusts in England to have a GS1 adoption plan in place by 2015.
Health Minister, Dr Dan Poulter, said: “In August 2013, we published Better Procurement Better Value Better Care, which established a new Procurement Development Programme to help NHS Trusts stabilise their non-pay spending so that they spend no more than they currently do by the end of 2015-16, thereby realising £1.5 billion of procurement efficiencies. “We are determined to deliver efficiencies to free up more money for frontline care. This NHS eProcurement Strategy will establish the global GS1 coding and PEPPOL messaging standards throughout the healthcare sector and its supporting supply chains. Compliance will enable Trusts to control and manage their non-pay spending, via adoption of master procurement data; automating exchange of procurement data, and benchmarking their procurement expenditure data against other healthcare providers.”
