Department of Health Library supporting the High Quality Care for All review team
What was done
The final report of the NHS Next Stage Review was launched on June 30th 2008. Entitled “High Quality Care for All” it was the culmination of almost a year’s work by Lord Darzi and his team to set the direction for the future of the National Health Service in the next 10 years.
The Department of Health library team contributed to this important piece of work by supplying the evidence for the Darzi Review team and from August 2007 started to prepare some background information. We compiled material that illustrated the major news stories and principal themes relating to the NHS over the last 20 years and provide the supporting documents. As well as the large scope of the project, this request differed from our usual work as the team was required to show judgement and discrimination in selecting relevant material and compiling a narrative rather than just devising and carrying out searches to present to the customer to extrapolate their own findings. We also needed to contact outside organisations to request unpublished material.
We were, at the same time, in the midst of implementing a planned move from a dual site (London and Leeds) operation to a one-stop-shop library in Leeds. With the added pressure to keep the enquiry service running smoothly throughout relocation and working to a relatively short deadline, we had to be flexible and creative. We applied careful co-ordination and teamwork, and made good use of the corporate memory of library staff, to prepare and present a coherent piece of work.
What changed as a result?
The Darzi team has benefitted from having a wide range of information to inform their policy drafts. Contact with outside organisations and senior figures raised the profile of the library and promoted our new one-stop service in Leeds. In the wake of this work many other enquiries were generated from the policymakers involved in the NHS review and searches on contemporary issues such as polyclinics and vaccination were commissioned to inform the various reports that have led up to “High Quality Care for All.”
What are the benefits so far?
By rising to this challenge, the Library has enhanced its reputation among policymakers and built up confidence in our ability to deliver objective information to tight deadlines despite other pressures. We demonstrated that we can contribute to the business of Government by providing the evidence and adding value to the research involved in producing a high-profile policy document.