 |
 |
Sophie Robinson, our trainer, recently conducted a survey of practices in Tower Hamlets to ascertain their usage and awareness of NeLH, a summary of which is given below. Please contact me if you would like further details. best wishes sarah lawson Library Manager Health Information East London Aneurin Bevan House 81 Commercial Road London E1 1RD Tel: 020 7655 6600 x4312 Fax: 020 7655 6687 [log in to unmask] www.hiel.nhs.uk National electronic Library for Health website survey. Health Information East London (HIEL) conducted a survey in November 2004, to investigate use by practice staff of the National electronic Library for Health website (www.nelh.nhs.uk). 297 questionnaires were sent out to practice managers, practice nurses and GPs and 71 were returned (24%). Summary of findings Internet access and usage · The majority of respondents (51%) were GPs, indicating that the use of Internet resources is of particular interest to this staff group. · Although 89% of respondents stated that they have access to the Internet at work, 75% indicated that they are not able to use Internet resources as much as they would like, due to lack of time. NeLH awareness and usage · 45% are aware that they have access to the NeLH website but 54% either do not know if they have access, or think that they do not have access to the website. · 56% of respondents have never used the NeLH website in order to access health information. · 37% usually or sometimes succeed in finding the information that they want on the NeLH website. Usage of other sources of information · A variety of different health information sources are used by practice staff to support patient consultations. These include EMIS (80%), Prodigy (25%), the paper version of BNF (60%), the paper version of Clinical Evidence (35%), the Department of Health website (49%), Google (48%) and textbooks (46%). Conclusions and recommendations for action · From this we conclude that most staff are not sufficiently aware of the resources available to them via the NeLH website and that extensive awareness-raising is needed amongst practice staff in Tower Hamlets. · Many staff requested further information and a guide to NeLH has been prepared by HIEL and will be distributed to practices. · HIEL will also seek to raise awareness of NeLH further by promoting the use of this website at every opportunity, via presentations, mailings and emails to practices. · Since lack of time to use Internet resources is an issue for most of those who responded, HIEL will promote use of our enquiry service and literature searching service to assist with the health information needs of practice staff.