A BARCODING system tracking every single implant, all medical equipment and every drug administered by staff at one North-East NHS Trust has been praised for providing a positive patient experience.

The Scan4Safety system sees the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust ensuring all medicine and tools are recorded and entirely traceable at any time.

The technology is being used by the Trust which oversees the University Hospital of North Tees, Stockton and the University Hospital of Hartlepool and clinics at Peterlee Community Hospital, in County Durham.

The President of Royal College of Surgeons of England, Derek Alderson attended the University Hospital of North Tees to mark the unveiling of a plaque recognising the use of Scan4Safety.

He said: “It’s a great pleasure to be here, to give something back to the North-East.

"It’s marvellous to have the opportunity to celebrate this achievement and fitting that it should be here at North Tees, the home of Clinical Audit.

“Today, more than ever, we have to be transparent, we have to do everything that we can to prove to everyone that our surgery is absolutely safe.

"In comparison with other European health systems, the National Health system fares very well – these initiatives are only going to drive that innovation and success.

“This technology means that every new implant and every new device that is introduced can be barcoded, placed into a local register and potentially shared into a national one.

"This will give healthcare providers across the country the facility to complete high quality audits and high quality research.

"This will allow the NHS to continuously improve the quality of patient care, providing better outcomes for all."

"This really is a great achievement for the Trust – keep up all of the great work," he added.

The Scan4Safety barcodes provide a fast and accurate means of capturing data, offering more streamlined systems and services operated by the Trust.

The reduced number of processes is intended to free up the time of clinicians so they can focus solely on providing care and support to their patients.