CILIP | Guide Case Study Workig in an NHS Trust: Library Services Manager (2)

Working in an NHS Trust: Library Services Manager (2)

by Helen Bingham

Organisation
I am employed by an NHS Trust with 8000 staff. I am responsible for the delivery of multidisciplinary library services to staff of the Trust, to staff of the three Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) with whom we have service agreements, and to health care students who are studying or on placement locally.

The core business of the NHS is the provision of high quality patient care. We contribute to this by supporting the library information needs of NHS staff and students engaged in education, research, continuous professional development and management, as well as in direct patient care. Catering for a wide range of users, from consultants to community nurses, from pharmacists to porters, with widely differing needs, is one of the challenges and pleasures of the job, which is certainly very interesting and varied.

Main Duties
• Ensuring that we provide access to a comprehensive range of information resources and to responsive library services, both via the two Trust libraries, and via the Internet.

• Managing and developing the library staff (12 in total).
• Managing the library service budget, preparing bids.

• Strategic planning, to ensure that library strategy reflects local priorities, regional initiatives, and national imperatives.

• Formulation of policies and procedures.

• Agreeing and monitoring service agreements with our ‘stakeholder organisations' i.e. the PCTs and the universities.

• Monitoring quality and performance, evaluating the impact of services.

• Collaborating with local NHS and Higher Education library managers, and with the Workforce Development Confederation (WDC), to secure access to jointly-purchased resources, to share best practice, and to ensure equitable access to services and resources.

• Participating in relevant Trust committees and groups, for instance in the areas of clinical governance, education, e-learning and IT.

• Promoting awareness of and raising the profile of library services

Our Trust is planning a new hospital building, so I am now getting experience of planning a new library. I am fortunate also, to be working one day per week for the local WDC, which is giving me experience of working at a broader strategic level.

Helen Bingham
Library Services Manager
Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust
helen.bingham@porthosp.nhs.uk

Updated: 24 October 2005

Health Libraries

Working in an NHS Trust: Library Services Manager (2)