The little label does a big job for the NHS

Sticky labels are so common we take them for granted but in NHS departments like pharmacy, pathology and medical records, they perform an essential function communicating and providing traceability for important information about patients, equipment and drugs.

By enabling the automation of many processes (like the processing of specimen samples) they also have a huge impact on operational efficiency.

The right label for the job

The NHS purchases a wide range and huge volume of labels and it’s important they’re of a consistently good quality (often needing to withstand changes in temperature and humidity, handling, transportation and storage) and offer good value for money.

They may also have to meet demanding application-specific requirements. For example, hospital pharmacies use direct thermal top coated labels to ensure the information printed on them won’t fade or degrade over time. They also use peelable adhesive so drugs can be easily re-labelled or returned to stock.

Similarly, the pre-printed, sequential barcoded labels used by pathology departments to identify patient samples need to be of a premium quality for accurate scanning.

What could go wrong?

As in all businesses, the importance of an adhesive label directly to the information it contains and the consequences of it being incorrect, illegible or not available. However in the context of the NHS the consequences can be serious, ranging from staff having to manually input information that should be scannable through to directly impacting on patient care.

At LabelsPlus we understand the implications of not having the right label for the job and do everything we can to help all our customers with urgent requests.

So when an NHS customer ran out of labels three days before Christmas, we immediately produced the labels needed and arranged for same day delivery to ensure that the department could continue to provide critical services over the Christmas period.

30 NHS Trusts depend on LabelsPlus

LabelsPlus works with more than 30 NHS trusts throughout the UK including Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust, Blackpool Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and Alder Hey Children’s NHS Foundation Trust.

They work with us because:

  • We have extensive NHS-specific knowledge and experience
  • We supply the right label for the job
  • We’re responsive
  • We plan for our customers’ needs

Working with LabelsPlus Ltd

LabelsPlus is a dependable, responsive and professional supplier of off the shelf and bespoke labelling solutions across all sectors of commerce and industry. We can source any label for any requirement, taking the hassle away from you so you can focus on your business.

To find out how we could help you, please call our friendly team on +44 (0)1663 736250.