Key Summary
- NHS is conducting a survey to understand the impact of faulty barcodes.
- It aims to understand the patient's safety as issues have been on the rise.
- The last date to fill in responses is 18 June.
NHS England is surveying pharmacy teams to understand how unscannable or inaccurate barcodes affect daily operations and patient safety.
The national body warned that medicines are entering the UK supply chain without a 2D DataMatrix barcode or with inaccurate or unscannable barcodes.
The rise in issues with barcodes follows packaging and labelling changes introduced on 1 January 2025 under the Windsor Framework.
Faulty barcodes disrupt pharmacy workflows, increase staff workload, and limit the effectiveness of digital dispensing and safety verification systems.
This survey aims to understand the patient safety impacts of these issues across NHS pharmacy services in England. The findings will contribute to an MSc service evaluation and inform NHS England recommendations.
Responses are entirely anonymous and confidential unless participants choose to provide an email address for a follow-up interview.
Pharmacy teams are urged to submit their responses by 18 June.
