Document supply leads to more clinical time

Worcestershire Health Libraries: Saving you time as you improve patient care

We have recently conducted an impact study on how our document supply service is utilised.

These are the results:

· 941 Documents supplied in one quarter (Feb - Apr 2011)
131 individuals – 59 replies to survey – 45% return rate
· 98% found the information increased their clinical knowledge
· 89% said the new information would contribute to a higher quality of patient care
· 170 clinical hours saved by library staff supplying documents
(4½ weeks of clinical time)
· 100% of requests reached clinicians in time
· Information received was used for clinical queries, practice development, education and research, guidelines and journal clubs

Below are just a few of the comments we received:

“extending evidence-based treatment”
“better informed decision making”
“I will assess them (patients) rather than waiting for a doctor”
“more knowledge, better understanding”
“ensuring appropriate dose of drug use”
“information on breasting feeding has been used for guidelines”
“very simple request process and timely response”


The results show that if you need information fast, Worcestershire Health Libraries will save you time and effort by delivering documents directly to your workplace whilst you focus on delivering Evidence-Based Care.

New NHS Evidence

NHS Evidence has changed. Find out more about the exciting changes and how NHS Evidence can help you easily access evidence-based information to deliver high quality care.

Amongst the new features are

• An A-Z of topics directing you to topic pages for selcted clinical areas
• Nice Pathways A new online tool provides quick and easy access, topic by topic, to the range of guidance from NICE
• New Journals and Databases section

Visit www.evidence.nhs.uk today to explore and find out more.

WHL May 2011 Newsletter

Click on the image on the left to access the May 2011 Worcestershire Health Libraries Newsletter.

In this edition you will find...

• The latest on our Evesham Health Library move
• News on our literature search impact survey
• Electronic journals update and more...

Behind the Headlines!

Behind the Headlines provides an unbiased and evidence-based analysis of health stories that make the news. The service is intended for both the public and health professionals, and endeavours to:

• explain the facts behind the headlines and give a better understanding of the science that makes the news,
• provide an authoritative resource for GPs which they can rely on when talking to patients, and
• become a trusted resource for journalists and others involved in the dissemination of health news. 

 You can access Behind the Headlines HERE

Univadis - Information source for healthcare professionals

Univadis is a health information portal aimed at healthcare professionals and run by MSD (Merck) pharmaceutical company. It’s currently free to use for health professionals who are registered with a recognised professional organisation (General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Healthcare Professions Council etc.), but you will need to register for access.

The Univadis web-site www.univadis.co.uk mostly provides links to external sources of information rather than creating new content, but some of the resources are well worth using. We particularly recommend that you try the interactive 3D Anatomy and Medical Images sections.  

Univadis also provides access to educational materials such as slide-sets and broadcasts on a wide variety of clinical topics, as well as BMJ learning modules. You can plan your own learning schedule, and gain credits for accredited courses. 

As well as this, you’ll find features that will help you to keep up to date with news and research in your area of interest, including medical news alerts and discussion forums.

In addition, Univadis has a small collection of reference resources such as GP Notebook and Harrison’s Internal Medicine and is a useful adjunct to your main sources of healthcare information, NHS Evidence www.evidence.nhs.uk and Worcestershire Health Libraries’ web-site www.wkp.nhs.uk 

If you’d like any information or advice on using Univadis or other health information resources please contact Richard.Brook@worcsacute.nhs.uk 01527 505771 or ext. 45771.

Evesham Health Library Moves

Evesham Health Library is now at the heart of the new Training and Development Centre in Evesham Community Hospital. We hope this will make it more easily accessible to those attending courses in the centre, and to those working in the hospital.

The opening of the new Library co-incided with the first conference to take place in the Centre, the Provider Services Quality Conference. Those attending were enthusiastic about the new look and new location for the Library.

Like all our libraries, Evesham Health Library offers free membership to all NHS staff working in Worcestershire. If you'd like to borrow books, but aren't yet a member you'll find a registration form and all the information you need to join and get the best from our services are available from our web site at http://www.wkp.nhs.uk/

The library is staffed on Thursdays between 9.30 am and 1.30 pm, so you can drop in then to find out more about how we can help you. Staff from the Rowlands Library at WRH will be happy to help you with enquiries about using Evesham Health Library, or more general enquiries, from 8.30 am to 5.00 pm Monday to Friday (tel. 01905 760601 e-mail Rowlands.enquiries@worcsacute.nhs.uk

As well as a collection of books for members to borrow (use the loans book to check your books out if the library is not staffed), the Library area also has computers for you to use, so it's a good place to come to look for information or to study.

Don't forget that our online catalogue (also available from http://www.wkp.nhs.uk/ ) gives you access to the book collections of all our libraries. You can request books from any site and have them delivered to Evesham using your ID no. from your library card and your PIN, which is available to members on request.

Evesham Library doesn't currently subscribe to any printed journals, but you can access many electronic versions via our A-Z listing on http://www.wkp.nhs.uk/ . If you need help with this, or anything else related to finding information and evidence for your work, study or professional development, please contact the Rowlands library.

Persistent Pain Pathway Smartcard Access

The new care pathway for the Management of Persistent Pain is now available to view on the Map of Medicine using Smartcard access. For those of you using a computer on the WHICTS network, you can use the Map of Medicine link in your Internet Explorer "Favourites" list. Alternatively you can link directly to the Map at
https://neem.mom.nme.ncrs.nhs.uk/display/1/index.html