Radio frequency identification (RFID) could bring significant benefits to the NHS, say experts.

RFID is increasingly popular in the NHS for applications such as tracking high-value assets, surgical instruments, patients and medicines – see box, below.

Former health minister Lord Hunt said earlier this year that the use of RFID could save the NHS millions of pounds per year (Computing, 22 February). The Department of Health has recommended the use of common standards to ensure interoperability, but says projects are currently down to the discretion of individual trusts.

Connecting for Health (CfH), which is responsible for delivering the £12bn National Programme for NHS IT, is beginning to take a more active role.

The agency is funding a pilot to track blood for transfusions that will include the use of RFID wristbands, says Chris Ranger, head of safer practice at the National Patient Safety Agency.

‘The pilot will provide learning and evidence that can be used at other NHS trusts,’ she said. ‘There is a lot of interest in RFID; it has so much potential to improve patient safety.’

Managing RFID rollout centrally could provide benefits for the NHS and individual trusts by maximising savings generated through a reduction in patient errors and lost assets.

Russell Wynn Jones, chairman of the UK e-Health Association, says the health service is very large and complex and it would be difficult to implement a single system to fit all needs.

But Ian Herbert, vice chairman of the BCS Health Informatics Forum, says CfH is well placed to take a guiding role.

‘If there is a widespread requirement for the technology or it needs to interface with other central systems, it should take on a more central role,’ he said.

‘It will also allow hospitals to share experiences and provide an easier route for trusts thinking about introducing RFID.’

NHS and RFID