“Having properly decontaminated and sterile surgical instruments for an operation is an obvious requirement, but tracking using a standardised coding system, is essential to allow traceability from one patient to another in the unlikely event of a recall procedure,” says Caroline Robinson, Customer Contract Manager at Wythenshawe Hospital.
“Rescheduling operations due to missing or unsatisfactory surgical instruments not only presents a potential threat to the patient due to be treated, but has a much wider impact both on the smooth running of a hospital department and its budget.”

Wythenshawe Hospital have implemented a bar coding system using GS1 standards to uniquely identify, track and trace its trays containing surgical instruments. This system was implemented following the centralisation of decontamination services by five hospitals from four acute NHS trusts including Wythenshawe Hospital into one new facility run by Synergy Healthcare plc.

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Surgical Instrument Traceability Case Study