All patients to be barcoded by 2013

All patients to be barcoded by 2013

The barcodes, which will be read by handheld scanners, are to be issued to patients from October next year under the orders of the Information Standards Board (ISB) for Health and Social Care.

By next April trusts have must plans on how they will implement the change-over.

The ISB is imposing the rule to cut down on the number of avoidable errors like patients being given the wrong medication.

Studies show they can stop such administrative errors by 42 per cent, according to Franck Riout of Zebra Technologies, which makes barcoding systems for NHS trusts.

Peter Walsh, chief executive of the campaign group Action Against Medical Accidents, said: "It's a good move. Patient misidentification is a recurring problem and there is a need for more consistency with wristbands across the NHS.

"Having the same procedures in every NHS hospital will prevent a number of avoidable incidents from causing harm and even worse."

The Patients Association also welcomed them - although the pressure group was a little concerned patients could end up feeling like products rather than people.

Katherine Murphy, its chief executive, said: "Looking for new and innovative ways to improve patient safety should be a top priority for all healthcare providers.

"The introduction of these barcoded wristbands could improve patient safety by making sure that mistakes do not happen.

"However, care must be taken to ensure they do not become a barrier to communication with patients.

"We do not want to end up in a situation where patients are scanned like an item in a supermarket.

"Healthcare professionals using these barcoded wristbands should make sure that they make every effort to talk to the patient and treat them with the respect that all people deserve.”

The project, originally proposed by the Department of Health and the National Patient Safety Authority in 2007, has been put back several times. The original deadline set by the ISB was July 2011

Source: The Telegraph  - h/t to Jean Stoner

Today a wristband… tomorrow an imbedded chip!

The NHS Rationing Crisis

Any liberal who, during the ObamaCare debate, extolled the virtues of a single payer system like the NHS has reason to be discomfited with the newest development in British public health care. In a bid to save money, hip replacements, cataract surgery and tonsillectomies are all being rationed by the NHS.

More specifically, according to The Independent:

* Hip and knee replacements only being allowed where patients are in severe pain. Overweight patients will be made to lose weight before being considered for an operation.

* Cataract operations being withheld from patients until their sight problems "substantially" affect their ability to work.

* Patients with varicose veins only being operated on if they are suffering "chronic continuous pain", ulceration or bleeding.

* Tonsillectomy (removing tonsils) only to be carried out in children if they have had seven bouts of tonsillitis in the previous year.

* Grommets to improve hearing in children only being inserted in "exceptional circumstances" and after monitoring for six months.

Some ObamaCare proponents hope and believe it's an intermediate step to imposing a single payer health care system on the United States.  To the extent that's true, the NHS disaster is a a valuable reminder that, after Republicans set about trying to fix the Obama economy, its top priority should be fixing the looming disaster that is ObamaCare.

By Carol Platt Liebau - an attorney, political commentator and guest radio talk show host based near Los Angeles. Author of Prude

Source:  TownHall

Related:  Uproar Over ObamaCare’s ‘Rationing Panels’ Intensifies 

*Age 78 will be the cutoff for many types of surgeries or procedures, no matter how healthy the person is otherwise, if ObamaCare is not repealed!