A blog post from the King’s Fund about the possibility of a single NHS portal for all services. NHS.uk is currently the site NHS Choices, an information site for patients who want to know about information about health and local services amongst other things, but the possibility is being mooted of it being the one stop portal for booking appointments, managing repeat prescriptions, and (eventually) for accessing health records and care plans.
Month: August 2015
Library and Knowledge Service unstaffed for Bank Holiday
Please note that the Library and Knowledge Service will not be staffed over this Bank Holiday weekend. You are still welcome to use the books, computers, self-service machine and other resources Saturday to Monday, using your staff badge to swipe into the building out of hours, but there will be no members of staff available for enquiries.
We will be available once again from 8.30am on Tuesday 1st September. We hope you have a good Bank Holiday!
A healthy culture for quality patient care
The Kings Fund have updated web pages which look at the six characteristics of a healthy culture in the NHS. Areas including values, teamwork, performance, leadership and learning are covered.
There is also a tool for organisations to assess their culture and to identify the ways in which it is working well and the areas that need to change.
Access the tools here
Better Knowledge, Better Care
NHS IQ has developed four animations which take the viewer on a journey to build an understanding of what better knowledge means in health and care.
Take a look by viewing the new animations developed by NHS IQ.
The short series of four animations explain key concepts and the value of knowledge in health and care, covering aspects of Knowledge Management, it’s development and application.
Access the animations here
If you need any help finding evidence, keeping up-to-date and other aspects of Knowledge Management, the Library and Knowledge Service can help you.
Ask us and we will do our best to help.
5 Million people at high risk of Diabetes Type 2
Public Health England (PHE) have just published a new report estimating figures for how many people over 16 in England have blood sugar levels in a range indicating a high risk of developing Type 2 diabetes. The report underlines the need to act on Type 2 diabetes, especially as it already results in 22,000 early deaths and costs the NHS £8.8billion every year.
The press release also has links to further information and the latest evidence report
NICE recommends tighter blood sugar control in diabetes to reduce risk of complications
Click for article
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended tighter blood sugar control for patients with diabetes, to minimise the risk of long term vascular complications, according to the BMJ.
An updated NICE guideline on diagnosing and managing type 1 diabetes in adults is now available.
Long term NSAIDs are associated with lower colorectal cancer risk, study shows
Click for article
Taking low dose aspirin or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) continuously in the long term is associated with a lower risk of colorectal cancer, a Danish case-control study has shown.
The study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, analysed data on drug use, comorbid conditions, and history of colonoscopy from Danish prescription and patient registries.
Printing temporarily unavailable at the Library and Knowledge Service
We have recently upgraded our printing facilities, but unfortunately the new machine has not yet been installed. Please therefore accept our apologies for the temporary lack of printing, photocopying and scanning facilities in the library. These will be back up and running as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience.
10 million responses to the NHS Friends and Family Test
The NHS Friends and Family Test (FFT) has reached a memorable milestone today by achieving its ten millionth piece of feedback from patients.
Click image for article
Launched in April 2013 and now fully rolled out across the NHS, the FFT has allowed millions of patients to give invaluable feedback on their experiences of care and treatment in services throughout the NHS.
NICE Guideline published to support better antibiotic prescribing
Antibiotic resistance and sensible prescribing of antibiotics have long been an issue in healthcare. Often this has been fuelled by patient expectation that an antibiotic will help resolve their condition and prescribers feeling pressured to prescribe antibiotics. To encourage appropriate prescribing, in a time when fewer new antibiotics are being discovered, NICE published new guidance on 18th August 2015.
The full guidance can be found in:
It includes recommendations to support prescribers in taking time to discuss with patients the likely nature of their condition, the benefits and harms of immediate antimicrobial prescribing and alternative options.
The guideline considers the whole area of antimicrobial prescribing and makes recommendations for health and social care practitioners and organisations on the best ways to minimise antimicrobial resistance. It includes recommendations on: antimicrobial stewardship programmes, antimicrobial prescribing and introducing new antimicrobials.
Read more about it at Calls for NHS to curb inappropriate antibiotic prescribing
End of life care still requires improvement at nearly half of hospitals, report finds
Almost half of hospitals provide unacceptable care services at the end of life, a summary of data collected from inspections and published in a report by the Department of Health has found.
Click for article
In July 2013 an independent review of the Liverpool care pathway by the rabbi and peer Julia Neuberger recommended that use of the pathway, which had been introduced in the 1990s, should be phased out in England because, although it delivered good care when used well, in many cases it was regarded as a tick box exercise
How to use biologic agents in patients with rheumatoid arthritis who have comorbid disease
Click for article
This is a systematic review article from BMJ looking into the evidence around the title from article published between 1997 to August 2014.
Welcome to new inductees – including international nurses
Click here for survey
We’d like to welcome 25 new people to East Cheshire who attended Corporate Induction yesterday, many of whom registered with the library. This included 5 new international nurses.
The Library and Knowledge Service is free and available to all of you to use: you can borrow books, use computers, ask for help with finding information for work, do e-learning, ask for training, or just come up and talk to us over a cup of coffee! If you haven’t already registered with us, you can do so any time you’re free!
Breaking the mould of loneliness – Paula Bee
Click image for article
As one of the New Models of Care Vanguards – Wakefield Clinical Commissioning Group – is tackling social isolation. In the latest of a series of blogs on the vanguards, the Chief Executive of Age UK Wakefield District, explains their role and their commitment to making a difference for older people through their ‘Pull up a Chair’ campaign.
Listening to music helps reduce pain and anxiety after surgery, review shows
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Listening to music before, during, or after surgery notably decreases patients’ pain and anxiety and reduces their use of analgesic drugs, a review published in the Lancet has shown
Use of music has a long history of improving patients’ experience of being in hospital, and studies have shown positive effects on postoperative recovery. But no comprehensive review has previously studied its use in different types of surgery and at different stages of procedures
Behind the Headlines
Read all about it!
Heard the latest health news stories reported in the press? Do you want to know if there really is a “diet” that will slow mental decline? Does eating red meat affect fertility? Is reading work e mail outside work time good for you?
Follow some of the latest items reported in the media and see the science behind them at “Behind the Headlines” on the NHS Choices website. The stories are broken down to see how the evidence stacks up and to give a balanced view on the themes reported, plus there are additional useful links.
Athens Service – Maintenance on 13th August
We have been notified that the providers of OpenAthens will be conducting essential maintenance on the service between the hours of 7am -9am (UK time) on Thursday the 13th August 2015.
The service may be temporarily unavailable during this period.
You may also have difficulties accessing some resources, such as healthcare databases or using your Athens account.
Our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Survival is 3x higher when cancer discovered early
The recent news published by Cancer Research UK shows the importance of early diagnosis for cancer. The survival figures show that, for eight common cancers, around 80 percent of patients survive for at least 10 years when the disease is diagnosed earlier. There is also interesting data and infographics to highlight this, in the Cancer UK recent blog post.
NICE Guideline published – Melanoma Assessment and Management
NICE melanoma guideline
NICE have published a new guideline to improve survival rates and reduce variation in the care of patients with melanoma which is currently the fastest growing form of cancer.
You can read the full news item here
The guideline, NG14 published July 2015, covers the assessment and management of melanoma (a type of skin cancer) in children, young people and adults. It aims to reduce variation in practice and improve survival.
Access NICE guideline NG 14 here
Focus on – Outreach Services for hospital and community staff
Our outreach librarians, Anne Webb (MDGH and Acute staff) and Steve Collman (Community based staff) are here to help you find and use the resources available to you. If you are unable to visit the library Anne and Steve are happy to visit your place of work
If you are looking for information, they are happy to help you, and can search the evidence, healthcare databases and journals to find publications for you. They can also train you how to use your Athens account to access online resources and healthcare databases.
Anne and Steve offer support with a range of activities such as literature reviews, research, education, professional and service development, evidence for patient information leaflets, journal clubs and more! Find out a bit more about our services here .
Critical Care Bulletin – July update
The latest articles have been published in the July update. You can access the update here
Breast Surgery Bulletin- July update
The latest edition of the Breast Surgery bulletin has been published. You can view it here
Library & Knowledge Service blog 