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Medicines used in hospitals across Europe could carry a barcode on each individual dose, according to joint guidance by the European Association of Hospital Pharmacists (EAHP) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA).
The joint guidance, published on 7 September 2026, notes that the new approach — known as single unit coding — is aimed to extend barcoding from the outer packs of medicines to each vial, blister or pre-filled syringe, so that each dose given to a patient carries its own barcode.
Currently, multi-packs in hospitals in Europe are split into individual doses for several patients. While the outer pack may carry a barcode, individual doses often do not.
In collaboration with the EAHP and EFPI, a coalition of industry partners agreed to the concept, which sets three milestones from its agreement date of 25 March 2026.
All new product launches from 2031 will carry a code containing the global trade item number (GTIN), batch number and expiry date. By 2036, half of products in scope will carry a code containing either that information or the GTIN alone, which will rise to 80% by 2041.
Scope is defined as products with strong relevance to the hospital sector; however, the document does not specify the countries in which it applies.
In a statement published alongside the guidance, the EAHP and EFPIA said that bedside scanning can reduce medication errors by between 30% and 60%, while barcoding individual vials, blisters or pre-filled syringes can cut error rates by up to 41%.
There are currently no plans to introduce single unit coding in the UK, the Royal College of Pharmacy confirmed to The Pharmaceutical Journal on 9 September 2026.
The Falsified Medicines Directive has not applied in Great Britain since 31 December 2020 and has not applied in Northern Ireland since Windsor Framework changes took effect from 1 January 2025, meaning 2D barcodes are no longer mandatory on UK packs.
The results of an GS1-UK survey published in August 2026 revealed that more than half (57%) of NHS trusts reported moderate-to-severe pharmacy workflow from missing, incomplete or inaccurate barcodes, while nearly two-thirds (64%) had received medicines without barcodes in the previous month.
Commenting on the guidance, Iain Davidson, chief pharmacist at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, said he hoped they would also be adopted across the UK.
“One of the major challenges for implementation of barcode medicines administration (BCMA) across the NHS is having a scannable barcode at the patient’s bedside,” he said.
“The lack of easy access to product barcodes at the point of administration leads to clinical areas either having poor scan rates or using unsafe workarounds.”
Davidson added that because the NHS uses original pack dispensing rather than routinely repackaging medicines into unit doses, single unit barcoding on the original product would be a “crucial step forward for successful and meaningful BCMA implementation across NHS hospitals”.
Georgina Lawton, head of healthcare at GS1-UK, said the guidance supported the “direction of travel” already established through Scan4Safety and NHS digital medicines programmes.
“The use of the GTIN and GS1 DataMatrix supports a consistent approach to medicines identification and underlines the importance of accurate product data,” Lawton added.
“This is particularly relevant given the challenges highlighted in the House of Lords Medicines Security report around traceability, supply chain resilience and missing, inaccurate or unreadable barcodes on UK medicine packs.”
Heidi Wright, practice and policy lead for England at the Royal College of Pharmacy, said that consistent identification of medicines at individual-dose level could support “safer dispensing, administration and monitoring”.
She noted that single unit coding “is not currently planned for implementation in the UK”.
“The use of 2D DataMatrix barcodes provides the foundation for medicines traceability,” she continued.
“Capturing product, batch and expiry information in a standardised format can improve supply chain visibility, support more effective recalls and ultimately enhance patient safety.”
The EAHP represents over 30,000 hospital pharmacists across 37 member countries including Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, France, Germany and the Netherlands.
EFPIA represents the biopharmaceutical industry in Europe, with 36 national associations and 40 pharmaceutical companies among its direct members.
