A new system to tackle variation in how much NHS hospitals pay for products was announced by Health Minister Simon Burns today. Some hospitals are currently paying nearly three times as much as others for the same products like surgical gloves and stents. Introducing a fairer and more transparent bar code system will lead to significant savings for the NHS in a market which currently costs it up to £6 billion annually. Currently there are a multitude of systems and approaches for procurement and for identifying products used by the NHS resulting in a lack of consistent information... 
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