Dear all
for information
Valerie
Information for Patients and the public : report of a seminar held at Skipton House on April 21st 2000.
1. The seminar began with presentations from Bob Gann on Consumer Health information and NHS Direct Online; Lisa Gray on OMNI and BIOME, Fiona McLean on information provision from charities and similar organisations and Heather Kirby on Croydon Library services and the role of public libraries. There were demonstrations of NHS DO, AMED and OMNI.
2. The workshop groups were asked to focus on how patients and the public could best access best evidence and to identify the role of NHS library services in current and future information provision. Participants were asked to review barriers and drivers and come up with recommendations for local, Regional and national action.
3. Conclusions and recommendations
Most participants were concerned that NHS libraries might be expected to meet the needs of public and patients when they were not funded or staffed to do so adequately. There is a role for NHS library services as a referral/back-up service in partnership with other local and national information providers to meet this need.
Best evidence for patients (etc) should be both quality assured and available in patient friendly language. Participants felt that NHS Direct Online is the best medium for this.
NHS Library Services are unlikely to have
· the skills (counselling etc) to deal with patients
· the resources - literature tends to be for clinical staff
· the funding - to purchase relevant resources for patients
4. Actions
4.1 Local
NHS Trust librarians need to
i) identify what local information provision exists
ii) develop relationships with local information providers especially NHS Direct Services but also Social services, public libraries, Health Promotion and Drug Information Services and others.
4.2 Regional
i) Survey current patterns of information provision, extent of collaboration, future partnerships etc.
ii) Plan co-operation and necessary funding across health economies (FLIS, HiMPs etc)
iii) Contact Nurse Directors at NHS Direct to discuss information access for NHS Direct staff
iv) Regional pilots on collaboration facilitated by NHS IPU/NHS DO
4.3 National
i) NHS Library Adviser to draft policy statement on role of NHS Library services and access for patients and the public with guidance to enable Regions to performance manage (ie SMART)
ii) NHS LA to seek out and publicise 'best practice' examples of co-operation and information about what public library services are offering
iii) NHS LA to highlight concerns about IT infrastructure and its impact on information provision
iv) NHS LA/NeLH to ensure that links with elSC (electronic library for Social Care) are adequate and support good information access for patients and the public.
v) NHS Regional Librarians Group to consider adding a question on patient/public information to a forthcoming annual survey. (A once off question or repeated in 5 years to measure development)
vi) ChiQ to draft 'building blocks' of patient information leaflets to ensure consistency and high quality with local detail (eg clinic times etc)
vii) LINC Health Panel (inc Library Association, RLG etc) to advise on and promote cross sectoral working to improve patient and public access to health information.
Recommendations will be taken forward by all present and referred to NHS Information Policy Unit, NHS RLG, ChiQ /Help for Health Trust, LINC Health Panel and others as appropriate.
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Valerie Ferguson
Postgraduate Medical & NHS Libraries Adviser
John Rylands University of Manchester
Oxford Rd Manchester M13 9PP
Tel: 0161 275 3729/7386
Fax: 0161 273 7488
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
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