in this issue - lks north · mental health libraries group vicky sergeant 3 the lihnn inter-lending...
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by Health Libraries, For Health Libraries ISSUE 30 MARCH 2009
IN THIS ISSUELIHNN Clinical Librarians GroupTracey Pratchett & Lisa Anderson 2
Primary Care Librarians GroupKatherine Bell 3
Mental Health Libraries GroupVicky Sergeant 3
The LIHNN Inter-Lending & Document Supply Group Steve Glover 4
Marketing a health promotionleaflet service to GP practices Lucy Anderson 6
Up Close and Personal NoWAL Conference Jo Bates 7
A forgotten treasure: Finding thetime capsule at Blackburn Royal InfirmarySarah Glover 8
Collaborative working across CumbriaJenny Tancock & Pippa Orr 11
Smoke signals from the ‘BigSmoke’: Aligning and evaluatinghealth libraries & sharing best practiceTracey Pratchett & Lisa Anderson 12
NSF Baseline AssessmentSurvey Workshop for NHS library Managers 14
Life is full or surprises!I am beginning withthis statement as I ams i t t i ng i n a bar i nKathmandu, Nepal.
Why am I surprised? I was notsupposed to be in Nepal. That’sanother story but it brings home howsome things can change faster thanyou could ever predict and we allhave to be able to adapt at shortnotice. I guess that’s a NICE thoughtto begin with!
The committee decided the first issueof 2009 would have a focus onLIHNN and its special interestgroups. In this issue we feature thework of the Clinical Librarians Groupwith an article by Tracey Pratchettand Lisa Anderson.
Katherine Bell describes the workof the Primary Care LibrariansGroup. Vicky Sergeant talksabout the Mental Health Librarians
Group. Jean Williams talks aboutthe HUG group and I have a pieceabout the Inter-Lending Group.
We also have some articles ofgeneral interest, Lucy Andersontalks about marketing healthpromotion leaflets to GPs in Bury.Sarah Glover tells the tale offinding the Royal Blackburn Hospitaltime capsule.
Jo Bates reports on a NoWALconference. Jenny Tancockdescribes some collaborative initiativesin Cumbria. And Lisa & Traceypop-up with a second article of thisissue with a report from the BigSmoke!
There are also some action shotsfrom the NSF day in Lancaster whichI managed to dodge by traveling tosunny South-East Asia with thecorrect paperwork.
Steve GloverTHE CHRISTIE NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
FUNDED BY THE NORTHWEST HEALTH CARE LIBRARIES UNIT
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When Steve Glover contacted me for a shortpiece about the ClinicalLibrarian Group, my firstthought was how manywords did I have? Whilst I don’t want to go on forpages, I wanted to giveyou a flavour of the workbeing undertaken by thegroup in 2008.
I have chaired the group sinceSeptember 2008 and I began attendingthe meetings in March 2007. From theword ‘go’ I was struck by the dynamicand supportive nature of the group. Atmy first meeting, Lisa Anderson offeredher support to a ‘newbie’ (me!) and Ithink this is what makes the group sosuccessful. Members actively help eachother, but are also looking for new waysof improving the services regionally.Here is a snapshot of some of ourprojects:
Project 1: Literature Search DigestSub Committee Members: Lisa Anderson,Anne Webb, Lucy Anderson
The aim of this project was to develop astandardised literature search templatewhich could be used throughout theNorthwest by anyone delivering aliterature search service. The digestcomprises of 3 parts: Part A - LiteratureSearch Request Form; Part B – SearchResults; Part C – Search ResultsSummary.
The request forms have been piloted by anumber of clinical librarians from thegroup and the digest documents are nowbeing made available throughout theregion. The first stage of the project isbeing evaluated by the sub-committeeand they are developing a standardevaluation form to complement thedigest. The project will be written up bythe sub-group members and published inorder to share good practice nationally.
If you would like any further information
about this project, or would like to usethe digest documents, please contact LucyAnderson [email protected];Lisa Anderson [email protected];Anne Webb [email protected]
Project 2: Peer Support-FindingInformation to Support Healthcare(FISH) Sub Committee Members: AnneWebb, Tracey Pratchett; Tom Hudson
This project is in the early stages ofdevelopment but the aim is to provide asupport network for any library staffwithin the North-West who undertakeliterature searches or who want todevelop their skills. The project is basedon a Search Skills Group from ThamesValley, where librarians across the regionmeet to discuss a search topic anddevelop practical skills. The aim is toshare ideas and techniques and to tacklea tricky search topic.
Our LIHNN group will use this model todevelop a support network within theNorth West which will include a Wikienvironment; a discussion area; bi-annual meetings; a dedicated emailaccount facilitated by a number oflibrarians to answer queries.
If you would be interested in joining thesub committee contact Tracey Pratchett(01524) 516224
Project 3: Northwest Systematic ReviewMembers: Alison Brettle, Ros McNally,Anne Webb, Tracey Pratchett, Jenny Tancock, Debra Thornton, Michelle Maden, Lucy Anderson
Alison Brettle visited the ClinicalLibrarian Group to involve its membersin a systematic review into an area ofclinical librarianship. There are 8members of the Systematic ReviewGroup, with 6 originating from theLIHNN Clinical Librarian Group. Thereview title is “Evaluating clinicallibrarian services: bridging the gap inimplementation, experimentation andskills”. Group members hope to developtheir research skills, and make a validcontribution to the practice of clinical
librarianship. In addition, thecontributors are all keeping a reflectivediary and logging their time.
The final review will be submitted to aninternational peer reviewed academicjournal and results will be presented atthe EBLIP Conference and the ICMLConference 2009.
Project 4: Journal ClubDebra Thornton and James Allen
I’m sure that many of you remember thejournal club which was originallydeveloped and presented by DebraThornton and James Allen. This club stillcontinues as an add-on to the ClinicalLibrarians Group. Members take it inturns to critically appraise journal articlesand present to the group. Commentariesfrom each session are published underthe journal club section of the ClinicalLibrarian Group.
The journal group is open to the widerLIHNN community, so if you areinterested in participating please contactTracey Pratchett (01524) 516224 tomake arrangements
Upcoming ProjectsLisa Anderson and I hope to involve thegroup in developing a regional collectionof examples, to help promote healthlibrary services and demonstrate goodpractice. This will emulate the alignmenttoolkit developed by Sue Lacy-Bryant.See the article “Smoke signals from thebig smoke” in this issue.
Guest SpeakersIn addition to the project work, the grouphas welcomed the following guestspeakers in 2008:
Gill Swash – Presentation about the Mapof Medicine: Dec 2008Valerie Ferguson – Research presentationand questionnaire: Sept 2008
The group is continually evolving in terms of membership and is a greatsource of support for clinical librariansacross the region.
LIHNN Clinical Librarians GroupTracey Pratchett & Lisa Anderson
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The Primary CareLibrarians Group is opento any librarian who provides a service to primary care staff.
The main purpose of the group is toshare best practice. Each meetingfocuses on a topical theme and weshare what we are currently doing anddiscuss best practice or for we discussdevelopments that are required in newtopics. Examples of past themes includeIT on the move (outreach trainingservices), new customers-commissioners, resource development,and finance in PCTs.
From some themes work streams arecreated, and recent successes are-The Commissioner Bulletin
When commissioning was new to PCTs we decided to develop a monthlybulletin, to include toolkits, guidance,reports, research and news stories onPCT commissioning and practice basedcommissioning. This bulletin has nowbeen running for two and a half years. It is issued by NHS Libraries acrossEngland and the feedback has been. To visit the bulletin go to-http://thecommissionernhs.blogspot.com/
Horizon ScanningThis is our most recent project. Again to support the commissioningprocess we are producing 18 HorizonScanning Updates, which harvestinformation on best practice, innovationand future risks within the topic. Thishas been a challenge to us all. To usethe latest technologies and search forinformation in unusual places. The first
issues are being released over Februaryand March. For an example of one ofthe bulletins go to -http://dentalnwpctl.wordpress.com/
Royal Society of Medicine Electronic Journal CollectionIn summer 2007 the group investigatedjournals collections appropriate toprimary care and decided to form aprimary care consortium purchase to the RSM e journal collection.
Katherine Bell GROUP CHAIR
Primary Care Librarians Group
The Mental Health LibrariesGroup has a core membership of librariansfrom Mental Health andLearning Disabilities Trusts.In addition to this, we welcome members fromlibraries which support professionals in these subject areas, both withinand outside the NHS.
The main aim of the group is to providepeer support and share best practice, aswell as, where possible, sharing tasksthat can be done in collaboration.
In the last year, we have collaborated toproduce a guide on finding MentalHealth and Learning Disabilitiesinformation and we have shared
knowledge about key resources. Sharingknowledge about resources has alloweda number of us to benefit from a discount on a collection of journalsrelevant to our field.
We have also collectively reviewed someof the current awareness services for oursubject area. This has meant that thoseservices that do not produce their ownbulletins have gained a betterunderstanding of what they can get fromthe existing services and can top up withother resources, where needed.
We have shared information when wehave attended conferences of interest. In 2008, such conferences have includedevents on Information Prescriptions andon Mental Health Libraries.
In addition, we have collaborated anumber of times on purchasing e-booksat a Northwest level, meaning that we
now all have access to some key JessicaKingsley books, as well as to a collectionmainly based around Guilford titles.
We also strongly expressed our views onthe proposed removal of the LearningDisabilities Specialist Library from theNational Library for Health and, partlyas a result of our opposition, the originaldecision was reviewed and this libraryremains in the collection.
Sharing knowledge has helped many of us to better understand the futuredirection of Mental Health and LearningDisabilities services and has enabled usto target our services accordingly.
We all find the mutual support offered byfellow members the best part.
Vicky Sergeant MENTAL HEALTH LIBRARIES GROUP CHAIR
Mental Health Libraries Group
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The LIHNN ILDS group represents the healthlibraries of Cumbria &Lancashire, Cheshire &Mersey and GreaterManchester. The groupmeets annually or asrequired and keepsabreast of national issues.The group will also adviseon copyright and issuesconcerning ILDS.
One of the main functions of thegroup is to maintain the Inter-lendingand Document Supply Protocol(ILDS). This document providesguidance for local libraries whoparticipate in the LIHNN inter-lending scheme. This year theprotocol was updated to reflect theimpact of the NW OPAC and howlibraries should use this resource insourcing items for borrowing.
The group also maintains theintegrity of the data contained withinthe Union list of journals. This yearthe role of Editorial control wasawarded to East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust.
The group reports to LIHNN andmonitors trends and statisticsreported by libraries to HCLU as part of the annual return.
The LIHNN Inter-Lending &
Inter-Lending trends have remained level since 2003/04. However documentsupply trends have shown a steady decrease over the same period as morearticles become available online through national (BMJ/JAMA), regional(LWW-OVID, Proquest) and local collections are purchased.
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The Heritage User Grouphas been in existence fornearly 8 years and is primarily a mutual supportgroup for those LIHNNlibraries, 45 in all (29 services), which have the Heritage LMS.
Many of the original members havesomething of a love/hate relationshipwith the system (not each other,honestly) as in the early days technicalproblems weren’t unknown andmeetings had a Q/A session at the endto help sort out glitches. Things havemoved on and the latest versions andonline catalogue are much more robust,error free and user-friendly.
In 2004 the HUGHATS (Heritage UserGroup Heritage Advisors and Trainers)project was launched to providetraining and support to colleagues, andof the original six trainers, three of usare still around delivering sessions onBasic Management and HeritageReports. The most recent training inJanuary at Whiston Hospital was fullybooked and from the feedback, it wasfelt to be reasonably useful toparticipants.
Meetings have always had a core ofattendees and have been fairlyinteractive; mince pies at Christmashave helped to alleviate any boredom(surely not, I hear one John say) thatthe sometimes less than scintillatingsubject matter may have provoked.However there have been many lively
discussions around standardisedcataloguing and maintenance charges!
In 2007 opinions were sought aboutbecoming an online group and thedecision was made to revert to havingan AGM in September, but conductingall other business via the Heritage emaillist. Whilst the list isn’t busy, it doesprovide a forum for members to posequestions and provide answers on anyHeritage matters. If you haven’t alreadyjoined, it’s free, so go and register onthe LIHNN website, and come along inSeptember to meet your cyber buddiesand talk about all things Heritage –there might even be an early mince pie on offer!
Jean Williams CHAIR OF THE HERITAGE USER GROUP
Heritage User Group:A Virtual Reality?
Document Supply GroupThere has also been a decrease in thesupply of documents by the BritishLibrary over the same period.
Steve Glover CHAIR OF THE LIHNN ILDS GROUP
One of the core services atNHS Bury Library Serviceis the provision of healthpromotion leaflets to serviceusers and organisations inthe Bury area. It has oftenbeen a discussion withinour team that GP practicesin Bury don’t use ourleaflet service as much aswe would expect.
Our statistics show that during 2006 10 GP practices were actively using our leafletordering service. This led us to question therange of leaflets on offer in GP practices andthe level of awareness of our service in theBury area.
In order to investigate this further, we visited 4GP practices to speak with the practicemanager about their awareness of the libraryservice, how they sourced leaflets and if theythought we should spend more time promotingto GP practices. We also looked at the waitingroom areas to ascertain what leaflets werecurrently on display.
Initial visits found that none of the practicemanagers were aware of the leaflet serviceprovided by the library. In addition they were all unsure of where theleaflets they stocked came from and all feltthey needed to improve the informationdisplayed in the waiting rooms. One practicemanager expressed an interest in having asay in what leaflets we stocked. The leaflets ondisplay in the practices were often sponsoredby commercial companies and at one of thepractices we picked up a leaflet producedover 10 years ago. This was a concern for usas regards the trust patients place on theinformation they pick up in a GP Practice.
All of the practice managers were impressedwith our online ordering service and all saidthey were willing for their staff to receivesome training to use it and unsurprisingly,they thought we needed to promote theservice more.
With this background information we decidedto bid for money from the North West HealthCare Libraries Unit Library Development Fundso we could further develop this work andpromote the service to GP practices.
The money allowed us the opportunity to visiteach practice and meet with staff to discussthe service with a focus on future ordering ofleaflets. An information file was producedwith details of how to order and samples ofleaflets available. The samples of leafletsfocused on the main priority areas highlightedin the Bury Health and Wellbeing Manifesto.
In total we visited 21 practices over a periodof 7 weeks.
Analysis of our order statistics show that moreGP practices are now registered with ourservice a total of 67 users (September 2007).
After 2 months we contacted each practicemanager to see if they were happy with theservice and for those that hadn’t used us, weasked why. The main reason for not using uswas constraints on their time.
We have built on the findings of this projectby focusing on the promotion of this service toGP practices and sent out samplecopies of new leaflets to all GPpractices and an informationfile to GP practices we didn’tvisit.
It is difficult to link theincreased registration withour promotion campaignas we haven’t seen anincrease in leafletsordered for GPpractices (fig 1).
We are continuing to market our leafletservice to GP practices through variousmethods, including mail shots and emails, andwill continue to monitor our statistics. There isscope for some more research in this area tohelp GP practices display and source highquality patient information. Incentives couldalso be considered to encourage GP practicesto display high quality health promotioninformation to patients.
Lucy Anderson OUTREACH LIBRARIAN
NHS BURY LIBRARYSERVICE
Marketing a health promotionleaflet service to GP practices
Fig 1: Number of leaflets ordered by GP practices
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Although the focus of thisNoWAL conference wasacademic librarianship, the broader themes werecertainly relevant to thoseof us working in healthlibraries. Collaboration,personalisation, empathyand skills shift, were thewords of the day asspeakers and delegatesgot down to the businessof ‘our changing roles in a digital learning age.’
The first keynote speaker, MargaretWeaver of the University of Cumbria,delivered an interesting presentation onthe changing role of learning supportservices. She made the argument thatsuch services need to redirect their focustowards the demands of their users,empathising with their needs to provide apersonalised service in collaboration withother learning professionals. She alsocalled for services to move into theirusers’ territory through exploringinterfaces such as Facebook and otherWeb 2.0 social technologies.
Alison MacKenzie, the second keynotespeaker, from Edge Hill University,continued with the theme ofpersonalisation and made a similarargument for empathy from informationstaff in their engagement with ‘today’sstudent.’ She considered how librariansneed to move into the informationliteracy skills gap in a world whereaccording to Tara Brabazon, “Googlehas flattened expertise”. She discussedthe need to re-brand, and increase the
visibility of, library services (jute bagsenter stage right), and explored theimportance of increasing interest in theinformation profession with those thatare in positions of institutional power.
The keynote speeches were certainly aspring board for further discussion. One delegate brought up the question of whether information skills tutors canplace themselves as wholly responsiblefor adult learners who are unwilling toengage themselves in the learningprocess. Later conversation, over tea andcakes, touched on questions of spheres
and generational relations: do studentsreally want their tutors and librarians onFacebook, or is this a social sphere? Dosocial networking and deep learningrequire different cognitive processes that some types of e-learning and e-engagement are not acknowledging?Can highly personalised support actuallywork to infantilise students, rather thanencouraging independence andinitiative? And also, the vital question ofwhether some librarians (among others)are being too hasty in classifying the ‘net generation’ as ‘Other’.
Of the two breakout sessions I attended,Cath Marlowe and Rosie Driver’s session,‘Who am I and what am I doing here?’was most relevant to our work in healthlibraries. They discussed the increasinglyhybrid role of the informationprofessional who must be comfortable inboth the digital and informationenvironments, using as an example theintroduction of their off-campusIT/Information team at Liverpool JohnMoores. This session involved interactivevoting by delegates on a variety ofquestions including: do librarians need tobe comfortable in the digitalenvironment? And, do they need toreach out beyond the library walls? Aswould be expected, the majority in eachcase were in favour.
Overall, the day was very enjoyable,and provided some interesting insightsinto the similarities and differences of thechallenges facing health and academiclibrarianship in the digital age.
Thanks to the LIHNN committee forfunding to attend.
Jo Bates STOCKPORT NHS FOUNDATION TRUST
AND EAST CHESHIRE NHS TRUST
Up Close and PersonalNoWAL Conference
5TH SEPT 2008, EDGE HILL UNIVERS ITY, ORMSKIRK
Well the things you discover when out shopping at theweekend.
There I was in Chorley one Saturday lastsummer and coming as I do from a lineof librarians, as well as being married toone, I thought I would have a browse inthe book shop. I came across a book ofold photographs of Blackburn. It wasabout this time that the demolition of theold Blackburn Royal Infirmary hadstarted I was curious to see if it includedany photos of the hospital. There werejust two; one of what is now part of thenew Royal Blackburn Hospital in itsprevious incarnation as a workhouse;and the second depicting the laying ofthe foundation stone of the Victoria Wingat the Infirmary, to commemorate QueenVictoria’s Diamond Jubilee. A localnewspaper1 listed events taking place forthe Jubilee and it stated that at 2.45pmthere would be a procession consisting ofMembers of the Town Council, Officials,County and Borough Magistrates,Infirmary Board of Management andFriendly Societies from the Town Hall tothe Infirmary to lay the foundation stone.
It was the caption under this whichcaught my eye as it mentioned that underthe foundation stone a sealed jar wasburied containing a commemorativemedal, copies of local newspapers andthe Infirmary’s latest annual report. Ithen started thinking if anyone within thetrust knew about its existence and whatwould happen to it as the majority of theInfirmary site was to be demolished andnew housing built in its place. Back atwork on Monday morning I mentionedthis to the library manager who said shewould pass it on to the Estatesdepartment. We managed to work outwhich part of the Infirmary was theVictoria wing, but could not find any
more specific information as to the jar’sexact location. It was then passed on tothe contractor who would look out for itas the demolition progressed. Lindafollowed this up at various intervals overthe coming months and the Trustcommunications department and ChiefExecutive were also informed.
Then on 19th November some news! Thecapsule had been found by one of theexcavation diggers. The jar wasunderneath a metal plaquecommemerating the event; fortunately itwas the plaque which the digger hit first,there by protecting the jar itself from anydamage. Both the jar and the plaquewere taken to the Communicationsdepartment where they could be openedand looked at.
In December 2008 staff from BlackburnMuseum came to open the jar andexamine the contents.
A forgotten treasure:
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continued...
The inscription on the plaque was:
The foundation stoneof the
Victoria Wing of the Blackburn and East Lancashire Infirmary
Erected to commemoratethe sixtieth year of the glorious reign of
Her Most Gracious Majesty Queen VictoriaWas laid by
Frederick Baynes Esq. J.P.Mayor of Blackburn
On the 22nd day of June, AD 1897
Frederick Baynes J.P., Mayor of BlackburnR. A. Yerburgh, M.P., President B. and E. L. InfirmaryHenry Harrison, J.P., Chairman B. and E. L. Infirmary
T. Mitchell Eccles, Vice ChairmanRobert E. Fox, Town Clerk
Nathan A. Smith, Infirmary SecretaryA. W. R. Simpson - Architect
FW Duckworth - Architect
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Finding the time capsule at Blackburn Royal Infirmary
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It appeared that the jar had previouslybeen opened as the seal was broken andthe commemorative medal missing. Thelocal newspapers and a programme tocommemorate the event were still rolledup in the jar. Original copies of thedocuments are held in BlackburnMuseum and they said they would passon details of someone who would beable to restore both the plaque and thepapers for display. It seems though thatthe Trust will have copies of the plaqueand the documents made and displaythem in the Main Entrance to the hospitalnext to those which were found, as wellas some photographs of the discovery. I went to the Communications departmenta few weeks later to see the capsule formyself and to take some photographs.
The documents in the jar were: • Three newspapers, two of which were
still rolled up and sealed, the otherbeing the Northern Daily Telegraph19th June 1897
• The 32nd Blackburn & East Lancs.Infirmary Annual Report 1896
• Official programme of celebrations forthe Queen’s Diamond Jubilee
So you see you never know what you willcome across or what discoveries could bemade even when you aren’t at work!
Sarah Glover EAST LANCASHIRE HOSPITALS NHS TRUST
References
1 Weekly Standard and Express June 19th 1897
A forgottentreasure:Finding the time capsule at BlackburnRoyal Infirmary
The annual report
The commemorative programme
continued...
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With new funding forlibrary services from thePCT and mental healthtrusts, North CumbriaInformatics Services andthe Library and KnowledgeServices of University Hospitals of MorecambeBay are finding new waysto target health staff on a countywide basis.
Two major health conferences haverecently taken place at Rheged, Penrith inCumbria. The first, on Friday 14November 2008, organised by Cumbria Partnership Foundation Trust (the mentalhealth trust) focused on ‘Dementia—Preparing for the Future’ while thesecond, on 7 January 2009, organisedby NHS Cumbria (the PCT) highlighteddevelopments in ‘Bringing NursingCloser to Home’. The conferences gavethe Library and Knowledge services ofNorth Cumbria Informatics Services andUniversity Hospitals of Morecambe Bayan opportunity to showcase collaborativeservices, reaching out to all health staff wherever they work in Cumbria.
At both conferences, Pippa Orr,Outreach Librarian from North CumbriaInformatics Services, and Jenny Tancock,Clinical Librarian from UniversityHospitals of Morecambe Bay, teamed upto staff a combined conference stand,talking to delegates throughout the dayabout the range of health library servicesavailable to them. These largeconferences, each attracting 250delegates, enabled us to meet a lot ofstaff who hadn’t used our services and toshow them the wide range of resources that they can access.
We were able to attend some of theexcellent lectures ranging from Europeanand national policy to local issues andstrategies for Cumbria. At each, localinitiatives were publicised bypractitioners alongside high profilespeakers such as Dame Christine BeasleyDBE, the Chief Nursing Officer forEngland and Simon Weston OBE,Falklands War Veteran.
The dementia conference included somesuperb ideas for organisations to followon the design of services for dementiasufferers (including practical ideas like
putting meals on colour coded trays toenable staff to identify dementia patientsin hospital) and a touching film of adementia sufferer talking about herexperiences. In workshops we looked atthe Mental Capacity Act and learnedabout person centred care and thebenefits of complementary therapies indementia.
Nursing is at the heart of Cumbria’sprogramme to bring care closer to homeand this conference was the first of aseries planned for the coming year. It tookas its themes, leadership, quality andnurse education and included presentationsfrom nurse led clinics in a range oforganisations such as hospitals, healthcentres, prisons and residential homes.
After the success of these events,exhibition stands are already planned for future Cumbria wide events.
Jenny Tancock CLINICAL LIBRARIAN, UNIVERSITY HOSPITALS OFMORECAMBE BAY TRUST
Pippa Orr OUTREACH LIBRARIAN, NORTH CUMBRIAINFORMATICS SERVICES
Collaborative working across Cumbria
Jenny Tancock – University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay
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Smoke signals from the ‘Big Smoke’:
During 2007 Lisa wasinvolved in some workgathering examples ofbest practice from differentlibraries to show how thework ‘we’ (HealthLibrarians) do impacts onour Trusts and wider communities. Amongstother issues this exerciseshowed the difficulty weoften face in directlyrelating our contributionto change within ourorganisations.
At the September 2007 ClinicalLibrarians meeting the group discussedhow we could start to address theissues of measuring impact bycollectively producing a bank ofregional examples to demonstrate oureffect within our own organisations. We are both interested in taking thiswork forward, so you can imagine ourglee when Lisa spotted this event inLondon; a collaborative project wherecase studies have been broughttogether from different organisations toshow the impact that health librarieshave had on the NHS! It couldn’t havebeen more timely, so enough of thebackground and onto our day inLondon...
The Event, where & when….
We travelled to the London Deanery,Russell Square in the BIG SMOKE on a
sunny autumn day (Wednesday 22ndOctober 2008), along with Shan Annis,Assistant Director, Health Care LibrariesUnit (HCLU) to attend the event“Making a positive impact on health –success stories from London’s HealthLibraries”. A huge thanks to Shan andthe HCLU team for organising a stress-free day (with the exception ofextensive delays on the way home forTracey – something for which HCLUcannot be held accountable!). In thespirit of collaboration we want to nowshare our learning with you andcontribute to good practice in theregion, by developing a collaborativeapproach in a similar vein...
Aligning your service
We arrived at the venue to a warmwelcome, were presented with ourinformation packs (including eco-buttonscunningly disguised as yo-yos) and ayummy lunch, which included a variedvegetarian selection, rivalling the usualrubbery cheese offering!
The first speaker and event host was Richard Osborn (David Stewart’sLondon equivalent) who extended awarm welcome to the ‘Northerncontingent’ and outlined the main aim of the day which was to launch the Alignment toolkit,(http://www.londonlinks.ac.uk/resources/alignment-toolkit ) an onlineportfolio of case studies that illustratehow health libraries contribute to NHSpriorities, helping to improve the qualityof healthcare. This is a tangibleresource to help librarians to:-
• Champion the benefits that healthlibraries deliver to Trusts
• Demonstrate how health librariesand librarians support core business,meeting the goals and needs of theorganization.
• Promote how libraries help toimprove healthcare
• Transfer ideas; fostering widerimplementation of successfulinnovations in developing roles andservices; leading to greaterappreciation of the contribution oflibraries in different sectors
• Give librarians greater confidence inpromoting health libraries
Paul Unsworth from the NHS Institutefor Innovation and Improvement (NIII)followed with an overview of the varietyof information and evidence needswithin NHS organisations. His talkfocussed on our need as HealthLibrarians to be proactive, identifyingSHA and Trust key objectives andpresenting relevant information to theBoard or other organisationalstakeholders. He advised us to use theLord Darzi reviews to focus our mindsas they inform regional and localpriorities. This was a great start andstarted us thinking about how we could‘target’ the information needs withinour own organisations. We all knowthe value of the ‘off the cuff’conversation with your ChiefKnowledge Officer (CKO) or ChiefExecutive Officer (CEO) in the lift – just think of the value of having had abank of case studies demonstratingyour potential impact at your fingertips!
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Evaluating your service
Sue Lacy Bryant is the brainchild of the project and indicated that the‘alignment toolkit’, was the embodimentof 3 years work. Sue’s vision was tochampion health libraries, demonstratehow they support core business, showtheir impact and share these stories.The toolkit is web based and is simpleand clear; presenting case studies froma number of London libraries aligned toboth Lord Darzi priorities and theProfessor Peter Hill review. Sue hasidentified 60 areas accordingly and asthe toolkit is organic, its futureincarnation will hold at least one casestudy for each area. What struck uswas the diversity of the storiesprovided, all from very differentorganisations and their aim to sharegood practice. It was all about beingproactive and providing concrete‘qualitative’ (sometimes quantative!)examples of how health library servicesimpact on the ‘core business’ of ourorganisations. The stories are local tothe London region, but could be easilyused by anyone to promote services orto underpin a business case for servicedevelopment. They also act as driversfor change and map to national,regional and local objectives.
Sharing good practice
The focus of the event was aboutsharing good practice and on the day,6 very different case studies from arange of services were showcased.Each story clearly demonstrated the‘impact’ of library work in terms of
saving money, service development andreducing inequalities:
• Health information fordisadvantaged groups:HealthInform, Barnet PCT
• Commissioning mental healthservices for Irish residents: Islington PCT
• R & D rehab post-knee surgery:Bromley Hospitals NHS Trust
• Localising the Map of Medicine 18 weeks: Royal Free Hospital
• Knee compression stockings: Archway Healthcare Library
• Knowledge alerts: NewhamUniversity Hospital NHS Trust
These showcase studies have beendevised using a standard Case Studytemplate and can be viewed at:http://www.londonlinks.nhs.uk/resources/alignment-toolkit
The way forward…
The event was extremely rewarding and provided the invaluableopportunity of hearing first hand storiesand networking with our southerncolleagues. The day itself waspunctuated by a variety of networkingopportunities over lunch and during thebreak, a chance to speak to people andgenerate ideas. We returned from theevent all fired up and determined toapply what we have learnt to good use.Since returning from the event, SueLacey-Bryant has been approached and
is happy for us to adapt some of herwork for our region, and has suggestedthat we extend upon her project andmap some of our case studies to ‘VitalSigns’, the national priorities forPrimary Care. The content of our workwill initially be hosted in a wikienvironment allowing for collaborativework and our hope is that it will besubsequently made available via theLIHNN web site.
To this end we have set up a ‘task andfinish’ working group, currently alignedto the Clinical Librarians Group butcomprising members from both Acuteand Primary Care. Whilst the existingmembership currently originates fromthese two groups, in the nature of truecollaboration we would like anyonewho is interested to contact us. You maybe a library assistant with an excellentexample of good practice/impact andwant to contribute to our regionalcollection. We also hope to host a casestudy development day and wouldwelcome members from all areas of theLIHNN community.
For more information about this project,or to get involved contact TraceyPratchett or Lisa Anderson.
Aligning and evaluating health libraries and sharing best practiceTracey Pratchett & Lisa Anderson
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“The National ServiceFramework of QualityImprovement for NHSfunded library services inEngland” was publishedby the National Institutefor Improvement andInnovation on 3 March2008. The NSF’s purpose”...is to establish a qualitycycle that will drive forwardthe modernisation ofhealth library and knowledge services,enabling the delivery of a quality based integrated‘service offer’ that isaligned with the businessobjectives of the NationalHealth Service and whichdemonstrably meets bothnational and local requirements and expectations.”NSF Page 7
As part of the introduction of theNational Service Framework of QualityImprovement (NSF), all 10 StrategicHealth authorities were asked tocomplete an NSF Baseline AssessmentSurvey. This was to give the NationalInstitute for Improvement and Innovationa snapshot of how compliant NHSfunded library services in England werewith the standards set down by the NSF.Library services are to be assessedagainst the standards and marked asfully compliant, partially compliant, noncompliant or not applicable
David Stewart welcoming library managers and outlining the objectives of the day
North West NHS Library Managers completing the NSF Baseline Assessment
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NHS North West, represented by theHealth Care Libraries Unit (HCLU),decided to organise an NSF BaselineAssessment workshop to which thelibrary managers of all NHS fundedlibrary services in the North West wereinvited. Led by Linda Ferguson, thelibrary managers worked through thestandards one by one, Most of thebaseline survey was completed by theend of the day. Questions and querieswere taken and noted, to be relayedback to Colin Davies at the Institute.Feedback from the day showed thatlibrary managers valued andappreciated the opportunity to completethe survey together in a supported andinclusive environment.
David Stewart keeping a watchful eye on proceedings
Linda Ferguson guiding library managers through the baseline survey. Standard 200 and hysteria is setting in!!
LIHNN GROUPS AND CHAIRS 2009
G R O U P C H A I R E - M A I L
LIHNN CO-ORDINATING Lis Edwards [email protected] COMMITTEE Sue Taylor [email protected]
Cheshire & Merseyside Librarians Gill Swash [email protected]
Clinical Librarians Tracey Pratchett [email protected]
CPD Shan Annis [email protected]
Cumbria & Lancashire Librarians Tracey Roberts-Cuffin [email protected]
E-resources Kieran Lamb [email protected]
Greater Manchester Libraries Valerie Haigh [email protected]
Heritage users Jean Williams [email protected]
Information governance Tracy Owen [email protected]
Interlending & Document Supply Grp Steve Glover [email protected]
Mental Health Libraries Vicky Sergeant [email protected]
Newsletter Mike Hargreaves [email protected]
PCT Librarians Katherine Bell [email protected]
Quality Brief and Exchange Linda Riley [email protected]
Trainers Stephen Molloy [email protected]
Mike Hargreaves (Chair)Uclan [email protected]
Rachel BuryUniversity Hospital [email protected]
Linda FergusonHealth Care Libraries [email protected]
Kieran LambFade, Liverpool [email protected]
Steve Glover Christie [email protected]
Andrew CraigLancashire Teaching Hospitals NHSFoundation Trust [email protected]
Penny Ralph Pennine Acute [email protected]
Victoria KirkWirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust [email protected]
E D I T O R I A L B O A R D
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Editor’s ColumnNotes for contributors
1. Articles and news items are welcome from all members of Lihnn,including support staff and staff inhigher education institutions.
Lihnn members are actively encouraged to write up accounts ofevents and courses attended. Articleson new developments and projectssuccessfully managed are also welcome.
2. News items and short pieces, whichcan range from factual to amusing,are also welcome.
3. All items should be submitted in electronic format.
Please abide by the following points:
Don’t forget your name, location, title ofarticle and date of article.
All acronyms should be written out infull for the first occasion they are used inthe text. Please give full details of events,courses and conferences attended. Thisshould include:
■ The name of event and location
■ Date of event
■ Name of organizing or sponsoring body
■ Details of how support materials canbe obtained (where necessary)
■ Full references to any publishedreports, articles, etc.
Items not submitted in time for the publication deadline will be published inthe following edition.
Lihnn is on the web at:www.lihnn.nhs.uk
Contributions should be submitted to:Mike HargreavesUniversity of Central LancashireEmail: [email protected]
LIBRARY AND INFORMATION HEALTH NETWORKNORTHWEST NEWSLETTER