CILIP | News: 23 July 2008

Transforming NHS Libraries in England

Health Strategy Group welcomes Review of NHS Libraries report in Open Letter to Peter Hill

The Health Strategy Group (HSG) has given a warm welcome to the Hill Report, “A National Review of NHS Health Library Services in England”. The Group, co-sponsored by CILIP (The Chartered Institute of Library & Information Professionals) and SCONUL (Society of College, National and University Libraries), provides an important professional endorsement for the approach and recommendations in the report.

“It is an excellent report,” states Kath O’Donovan, Chair of the Health Strategy Group, “It acknowledges the contribution already made by libraries and librarians working in healthcare but sets out a challenging agenda to put them at the centre of supporting an evidence-based healthcare system in England”.

The Group have identified a number of areas where they would like to work with the National Library of Health and other bodies in realising the ambitions and vision of the report. They are set out in an open letter to Professor Peter Hill and include:

• Education, training & continuing professional development for NHS Library staff – equipping staff for new roles and responsibilities and enhancing the leadership skills of those providing the service

• Researching the impact of the provision of information on health outcomes

• Partnership working, especially between the NHS and higher education, in areas such as joint content procurement, copyright licensing and the provision of open access repositories

Bruce Madge, Vice-Chair of HSG and President of CILIP, comments: “Although the Hill report was produced just before the Darzi report it plays to the same themes and acts as a signpost for the proposed new NHS Evidence Service recommended by Darzi. The opportunities will be there for libraries to become established as the lynchpin of this new service and for librarians to become navigators of evidence sources, informing best clinical practice and quality commissioning within the NHS, and supporting the lifelong learning and development of all healthcare staff”.

“We shall be writing to the Permanent Secretary of the Department of Health and the Chief Executive of the NHS seeking their formal endorsement of the Hill report,” adds Kath O’Donovan, “We also commend it to the Boards and Chief Executives of NHS Trusts and Strategic Health Authorities and encourage all librarians to be guided by its recommendations when planning and delivering their services locally. It is good to note that progress is already being made in implementing a number of the recommendations in the report”.

Press contacts:

Kath O’Donovan - Chair, Health Strategy Group
Tel: (0)114 222 7227
Email: kath.odonovan@sheffield.ac.uk

Bruce Madge - Vice-Chair, Health Strategy Group
Tel: 0207 637 2888
Email: bruce.madge@cilip.org.uk

Guy Daines - Joint Secretary, Health Strategy Group
Tel: 0207 255 0632
Email: guy.daines@cilip.org.uk

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Notes to editors:

1. The full text of the Open Letter from the Health Strategy Group to Professor Peter Hill follows can be accessed at: http://www.sconul.ac.uk/groups/
health_strategy/reports/nlhreview.pdf
And also
http://www.cilip.org.uk/policyadvocacy/statements/
healthstrategy/openlettertoprofessorhill.htm

2. National Review of NHS Health Library Services in England – The report, commissioned from Professor Peter Hill, makes detailed recommendations to strengthen library/knowledge services in the NHS so that they are fit for purpose for the future, and as efficient and effective as possible in making a positive impact on the health of patients and the population. A number of technical issues and implications are raised.
http://www.library.nhs.uk/aboutnlh/review

3. The Darzi report – High Quality Care for All. The Stationery Office, June 2008. (Cm 7432). ISBN: 978-0-17322-8 - The final report of Lord Darzi's NHS Next Stage Review. It responds to the strategic visions produced by the ten Strategic Health Authorities and sets out a vision for an NHS with quality at its heart and fully evidence-based. http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/
Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_085825

4. NHS Libraries and National Library for Health (NLH) -
There are 267 NHS-funded library services in NHS England, with approximately 365 libraries and a total of nearly 1300 employees. NLH is a confederation of these local library services, a range of nationally commissioned information services and products, and a single national hub ( www.library.nhs.uk ).

5. The Health Strategy Group is a joint working party of SCONUL and CILIP that advises its parent bodies on strategic health information issues and engages with other stakeholders in promoting the value and contribution of libraries and librarians across all sectors to healthcare.

6. CILIP: the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals is the leading professional body for librarians, information specialists and knowledge managers. It forms a community of around 36,000 people engaged in library and information work, of whom around 21,000 are CILIP Members and around 15,000 are regular customers of CILIP Enterprises. CILIP members work in all sectors, including business and industry, science and technology, further and higher education, schools, local and central government, the health service, the voluntary sector, national and public libraries. For more information about CILIP go to www.cilip.org.uk

7. SCONUL - the Society of College, National and University Libraries - is the membership body for UK and Irish higher education and national libraries. It works to promote excellence in library services in higher education and national libraries across the UK and Ireland and most of its activities are carried out by the heads of library services, often through SCONUL's range of expert groups or our Executive Board. More information about SCONUL can be found at www.sconul.ac.uk "

Updated: 28 July 2008