Held over two days at the QEII Conference Centre in Westminster, the GS1 Healthcare Conference 2025 brought together a senior NHS presence, from C-suite to clinical directors, and a tightly curated agenda.  

Here’s what you need to know: 

Traceability: The Key to Safer Care 

Chris Tyas, Chair of GS1 UK, set the tone: traceability is critical to preventing errors in healthcare. Aligned with NHS priorities and the Lord Darzi report’s focus on prevention, digitalisation, and community care, GS1 standards like Unique Device Identification (UDI) and Scan4Safety (S4S) are non-negotiable.

And this is where solutions like ours come in: systems where every patient, product, and procedure is tracked with precision, eliminating costly mistakes. That’s the goal, and it’s closer than you think. 

Why this matters:

It isn’t just that these errors are costing precious lives, but 15% of overall healthcare spending stems from preventable harm, as Henrietta Hughes noted. That’s 15% of funds that could be fed into innovations and technology designed to improve patient outcomes.

Adopting standards and tech isn’t just smart; it’s fundamental.

The NHS Today: Uncertainty is at the NHS’ Core

Alastair McLellan, editor of the Health Service Journal, shared an insightful perspective on the NHS’s current challenges. He noted that patient safety, once a key focus, is increasingly overshadowed by financial pressures and the drive for efficiency. He argued that recent NHSE plans have created uncertainty as the system moves towards provider-led models, where Trusts will prioritise local accountability over Integrated Care Systems (ICSs).  

But where uncertainty is presented, we uncover opportunity. What if those provider-led models could help the industry progress? What if their foundation was built upon the sharing of insights and learnings across departments, hospitals, and trusts —creating an ever-improving solution that’s sole purpose is to progress?

At Athera, we believe that this is the future of the NHS; teams, hospitals, and trusts will no longer be siloed, but empowered with tools and insights drawn from the collective knowledge of the entire NHS.  This approach not only achieves ambitious efficiency targets but also improves patient safety standards, centres progress, and pushes the collective towards better outcomes. 

Never Events: A Problem We Can Solve 

Professor Ted Baker’s opened with a stark warning: “Never Events” haven’t decreased.

Misidentifying patients, especially during care transfers, remains shockingly common.

His fix? Scan everything digitally.

From prosthetics to wristbands, scanning cuts errors. Nnenna Osuji and others highlighted how S4S reduces variation and boosts productivity, but only with clinician buy-in. Poorly designed Electronic Patient Record (EPR) systems and interoperability issues are holding us back. 

If you’re not prioritising point-of-care scanning, you’re risking lives. So why hesitate when the solution is proven? 

Data is the Future of Healthcare 

Dr Zubir Ahmed, Glasgow MP and PPS to Wes Streeting, shared a doctor’s perspective on a struggling NHS. With healthcare eating up 44% of government spending, efficiency is critical. His vision is a “digital spine” of shared data, connecting systems and enabling population health insights.  

Ming Tang, NHS England’s Chief Digital and Information Officer, agreed, pushing for a single patient record to standardise EPR data and eliminate ID errors. 

And from our perspective, they’re right. Data isn’t just numbers, it’s opportunity. Data is a bank of endless unmade decisions just waiting for the right technology and the right mindset to bring them to light.

There’s no doubt about it- the future of NHS strategy will rely on evidence-based decision-making. From ground-level staff to C-suite, actionable data insights will inform operations. There really is no better way. 

Interoperability: Breaking Down Barriers 

The interoperability panel exposed a harsh truth: even Trusts using the same EPR vendor struggle to share data. Tim Ho, Frimley’s CMO, described being an Epic “island” among Oracle-Cerner Trusts, with patients still carrying paper notes.

So what’s the solution? Share data with patients electronically by default, unless there’s a clinical reason not to. This shift could rebuild trust and streamline care. 

And this extends to areas beyond patient notes. We need to be sharing insights across the UK:

Royal United Hospitals Bath NHS Foundation Trust (RUH) serve as a model of success.

“We haven’t had a surgery cancellation due to inefficiencies within SSD for 3/4 years now… thanks to process improvements built from FingerPrint’s tech.” says Soby Joseph, Head of Sterile Services & Trust Decontamination Manager.

Their work with Athera FingerPrint has enabled them to obtain what most SSDs in the NHS are working towards: increased efficiency, less cancellations.

What we’re working towards is creating an NHS that shares such successes; where model SSD units like RUH serve as inspiration for the collective, and the collective can improve together (because together we go further, after all 😉)

No more siloes. More togetherness.

Scan4Safety: Beyond Inventory 

S4S isn’t just about tracking stock, it’s about using data to improve care, says Andy Malyon, Scotland’s S4S clinical lead. He envisions a platform like the Federated Data Platform (FDP) to drive insights. “We have a moral and ethical duty to collect, share, and act on data,” he said. Scotland’s rollout faces IT challenges, a warning for England. In Ireland, Richard Greene of the HSE described a paper-heavy system, but GS1-driven reforms via Slaintecare signal progress. 

Product Traceability: Ending the Chaos 

David Lawson, DHSC’s Medical Technology Director, tackled “transaction friction” from inconsistent product data. One Zimmer hip stem implant had 150 different descriptions in NHS systems. A National Product Information Management (PIM) system is coming—alpha is done, beta procurement is underway for 2026. Lawson predicts a mandate to enforce it. NHS Supply Chain and Bolton’s Genesis rollout showed how collaboration, backed by Greater Manchester’s ICS, delivers results. 

The Path Forward 

Terence Stephenson’s closing remarks celebrated progress since the 2016 S4S pilots while urging more. The GS1 Healthcare Conference 2025 was a clear signal: digital, data-driven care is here. With senior NHS leaders, expert speakers, and a focused agenda, it showed what’s possible. The question isn’t whether to act, it’s how quickly you now adopt it. 

Athera Healthcare isn’t just a traceability system, we’re building the next generation of NHS tech. If you want to be involved in this change, then contact our sales team.