Books supporting Patients, Carers and Family

Project team:
Library Manager, Project lead
Enquiry Services Librarians
Living with Cancer Manager
Chaplaincy Coordinator
Macmillan Cancer Information and Support Centre
Macmillan Dementia Nurse Consultant

Resources required: Initial funding for books: £2000; Staff time to collate book lists & order books; Monitoring system using feedback forms; Timeframe – 8 months to get it fully running.

“The story”
The Christie has a Cancer Information Centre (CIC) which supports patients, families, friends and the general public with finding cancer information and services to meet their needs. The Library team began talking with the CIC in September 2016, discussing ways in which we could work together. We began by offering to supply information and carry out searches for patients and in passing mention the provision of some books.

A small bid opportunity arose and we discussed it with the service and put in a bid for £2000 to the Healthcare Libraries Unit which was successful. We felt that we could extend the offer to include the chaplaincy, dementia services and offered an opportunity to satellite Christie services. Oldham@Christietook up the offer.

The Enquiry Services Librarians put together some lists of books based on the Macmillan and Cancer Research UK lists, books on prescription lists plus recommended books by project members and patients. This was priced up and 4 collections of books were purchased.

Simultaneously we contact the Lead Nurse for Infection Control as it was suggested the chaplaincy might want to use the books on wards. Would there be an issue? Luckily, a pragmatic approach was taken and every book has a sticker reminding people to wash their hands after using the book.

Once the books arrived, they were divided up, stamped, return stickers and infection control stickers were added. Where possible books were covered with wipeable covers. We created a small impact sheet that could be added to the book when loaned or used and sent back to us as part of our monitoring of how successful the project was.

We discussed if the books should be on our catalogue. The chaplaincy books were going to be used by volunteers and a number were colouring books so we decided not to. There were only a relatively few dementia books which again would be used with patients by volunteers rather than borrowed, so likewise they were not catalogued. We decided that the books supplied to Christie@Oldham would be given to them to manage however they wanted, with the proviso that they would let us have any feedback.

The CIC books did go on the library catalogue as a discrete collection and they simply send a weekly report of books borrowed and returned, which we then transfer to the catalogue giving us usage data.

On the day we delivered the books to the Cancer Information Centre, the first book went out and we received the following excited message
“Just to let you know that the first book has gone out!! The patient thought it was a fab idea and she took one of the nutrition books”

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers:
One of the key drivers for the Library service was the Knowledge for Healthcare requirement to support public and patient information needs which feeds into LQAF
Core criteria 5.3l for 2017: ‘LKS are developed to support information provision for patients and/or public’

Within the Trust itself we refer to The Christie Experience and anything that enhances the patient experience helps meets this strategic goal of the organisation.

Impact of this project/service for the customer/organisation/library: 
Currently we only have detailed information from the Cancer Information Centre.
Customer: the following quotes have been fed back to us
“what a great idea – I would just like a book to read whilst I am having my chemotherapy today”
“Can I really borrow these books and take them home to look at? That is a good idea as I wanted to read more about nutrition and diet so that I can help myself during treatment”
“I’m an inpatient at the moment and borrowed this book to read in the garden, I really liked it and will buy my own copy!’
“I have never really enjoyed poetry anthologies but this was different – I engaged emotionally with so many of the poems”
“A very inspiring book – excellent recipes to try and an all-in-one book giving handy tips which saves carrying a lot of booklets. A good bedtime read”
Statistics borrowed from the CIC:
1/5/17 – 1/8/17 – 39 loans (total titles = 98)

Organisational impact: Patients are better informed, with a feeling that the Trust supports their broader needs, not just their clinical needs.

Impact on the Library Service: It has helped develop our relationship with the Cancer Information Centre and helped us fulfil the broader aim of the service to improve patient care. This project is to be highlighted to the Board by the Medical Director as an example of the impact of the Library Service. It has also given us the opportunity to develop connections with the Christie Oldham staff.

Lessons learned:
Early contact with Infection Control: We were lucky that Infection Control saw the benefits of the project. In some hospitals books are not allowed on wards. It is important to have this group on board for a project like this

Problems with Chaplaincy: The Chaplaincy has not been able to get the project launched yet. After discussion with the Library Manager, they are going to look to use a volunteer in the Teenagers and Young Peoples group to start the project off. This will be helped by a talk on books on prescription to this group by the Library Manager

Dementia: Unfortunately, we have one person who does all the development around dementia in the Trust and she has been off long term sick so we have been unable to launch this collection. Currently there is little that we can do to move this forward

Catalogue and Library Thing: Initially we looked at using Library Thing so the CIC could issue the books via this but we quickly realised that it would involve a lot of work on their behalf and it was easier to do a weekly report to us to mark up books as being on loan.

Sustainability / next steps? We want to expand our offer to the other @Christie sites using the Oldham@Christie experience. We will need to source funding but feel that this will be possible as this has already proven to be a success

Contact details: Mary.hill@christie.nhs.uk
0161 446 3456

Date case study completed: 21/8/17

Dismantling the silos: Poster Exhibition to share and celebrate good practice

Project team:

• Lis Edwards, Library Services Manager
• Library Services Team
• Medical Illustration Team

Resources required: Poster template, Library staff time, Medical Illustration team time

Timeframe: Two months

The story: In September 2016 The Robert Jones and Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Foundation Trust began a culture change programme throughout the organisation.  This was in response to reports from Deloitte and the CQC which found that there were issues within the Trust around leadership and culture.  As part of the culture change programme two ‘big conversations’ have taken place where members of the executive team and Non-executive directors have visited every department in the hospital  to talk and listen to staff about their concerns.  One of the overwhelming issues raised by staff throughout the Trust was that they wanted other staff to recognise the work that was going on within their departments, and also to know more about what other wards and departments were doing.

Within this setting the Library Services Manager was asked to look at how a culture of innovation could be created within the Trust, by facilitating an event to celebrate and share good practice.  All staff were invited to submit a poster which would go on display as part of a poster exhibition to take place in the main entrance of the hospital, giving both staff and patients an opportunity to see the diversity of work which goes on within the organisation.  The Medical Illustration team based in the hospital agreed to create a template for the posters, and issued guidance for designing a poster.  The library team offered help to all staff in the design and layout of the poster.

The Library Services Manager met with managers and team leaders across the Trust, both clinical and non-clinical to ask for their support for this event.  An Invitation was sent to all staff, and the template and guidance was made available on the Trust intranet.  A deadline of two weeks prior to the event was set for the submission of posters, and regular reminders to staff were communicated via the Trust electronic noticeboard and Facebook and Twitter.  The Chief Executive Officer also lent his support to the event at his monthly staff forum.

Our expectation for support for this event had been around 30 to 40 posters at the most.  The response that we had was totally overwhelming; as the deadline approached it was becoming clear that we had really struck a chord with staff.  The final number of posters submitted was over 100, way beyond our most optimistic expectations.  Because of the number of submissions it was decided to reduce the size of the posters when printed to enable us to make better use of the display space we had available.  This worked well as some departments had submitted several posters in order to tell their ‘story’ and we were able to group them together on the display.

Prior to the day, all senior managers in the Trust were asked to ensure as many staff as possible were given time to view the posters, and be able to be part of the event.

Colleagues from other departments within the hospital helped the library team to display the posters the day before, also affording more staff the opportunity to view the posters.  Initially we had planned for the posters to be on display for one day only, but because of the enthusiasm for the event and the huge amount of information on display it was decided to extend the display over the weekend.

We also supplied all departments throughout the Trust with stickers (small dots) to put on the posters which they found of most interest.  The 3 teams whose posters had the largest number of dots were presented with chocolates by the Chief Executive Officer.

Support and interest from both staff and patients for the event was immense, and the energy and enthusiasm as people viewed the posters was amazing.  The event was organised in response to a view expressed by many staff that no-one knew or valued what they did, and what their contribution was to the organisation.   This exhibition, by showcasing the huge variety of work which goes on, gave us a chance to share what we do; to break out of our individual silos and engage in meaningful and thought-provoking conversations with our colleagues.

Staff from across the Trust really embraced the concept of this event, and have shared learning and good practice from their area of work.  It offered a unique opportunity for us all to learn from each other and about the work which goes on.  By learning from each other and finding out if others have a better way of doing things; we can find the ‘how’ and not just the ‘what’ of bringing about change.
Alignment to local, regional and national drivers: 

Organisational Drivers:

Caring for patients:

·         By sharing good practice and learning from each other

·         Patients given the opportunity to see and understand the work that goes on within the Trust.

Caring for Staff:

·         Giving staff the opportunity to share learning and good practice from their area of work

·         Breaking down silos and giving staff the opportunity to network and learn about what other teams do, and how they may be able to work together.

·         Enabling change in practice.

Caring for Finances:

·         Sharing good practice, enabling other teams to use more efficient ways of carrying out their work.

 

Impact of this project/service: This event was symbolic of what the library service brings to the organisation:

·         Bringing people together

·         Sharing knowledge

It also raised the profile of the library service and our accessibility to staff.
Lessons learned: The response to this project far outweighed our expectations.  The amount of posters submitted made it difficult to keep track of numbers.  In addition several iterations of the same poster were submitted which again made it difficult to ensure the final version was displayed.

Sustainability / next steps? 

• We will be displaying the posters again as part of the information fair which will be held prior to the Trust AGM.  The posters will be on display as before in the main entrance, and also in the conference suite, giving us another opportunity to showcase our work.
• We are creating a PDF booklet of all the posters which will be available on the Trust Intranet, enabling all staff to view or revisit the posters.
• We are exploring how we can use the posters to showcase the work of the Trust going forward.
• We are planning to make this an annual event

Contact details: Lis Edwards, Library Services Manager, Robert Jones & Agnes Hunt Orthopaedic Hospital NHS Trust, Lis.edwards@rjah.nhs.uk, 01691 404287

Date case study completed: 2nd June 2017

Evidence summaries to inform the Lancashire & South Cumbria STP

Project team: Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust

• Knowledge & Library Services Manager
• Operational Librarian (Public Health lead)
• Clinical Librarians
• Public Health staff

Resources required:

• Staff time

Timeframe:

• 4 Week timeframe from request to submission.

“The story”

As part of a collaborative working group, the Lancashire Public Health team were involved in finalising the STP which was due for submission in October 2016. In August 2016 a request was made to the library service for a literature search and evidence review to identify interventions which will deliver health benefits, contribute to quality and release efficiency savings by reducing emergency admissions, A&E attendances and GP consultations.

The library service completed 11 literature searches and carried out a mini-literature review and synthesis on each of the 11 topics including a detailed reference list at the end. The evidence summaries were shared amongst the team and delivered within the agreed 3 week timeframe. The Lancashire Public Health team were asked to prioritise the 11 searches and a strict schedule was agreed. The Library developed a process and sources for searching which was signed off by Lancashire Public Health with a view to streamlining delivery and standardising our approach.

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers:

Sustainability Transformation Plan Lancashire & South Cumbria http://www.lancashiresouthcumbria.org.uk/sustainability-and-transformation-plan Regional Transformation of Healthcare Delivery

Our Health Our Care https://www.ourhealthourcarecl.nhs.uk/ Local Transformation of healthcare delivery.

Impact for the Library

This case study was shared as best practice with other health library teams at a national level. It also raised the profile of the type of work that we do and provided a basis for us to become involved in the local Our Health, Our Care plan as our Clinical Librarian has attended the regional Solution Design Events to support redesign.

Impact for the organisation/customer

This work impacted on a number of areas, the STP was published and the Public Health team perceived that there was more informed decision making. The project also facilitated collaborative working and new ways of learning.

Crucially this project saved 80 hours of Public Health Staff time. “Myself and two other analysts would have ended up doing the searches and a couple of the other specialists. We’ve all been trained on searching, but time we would have spent on searching, which we could have been spending on something else” Kate Hardman, Information, Intelligence, Quality & Performance Manager.

Future impacts

Many of the following impacts will be realised after the STP has been published and changes begun to be implemented:

• Improve patient care
• Developing policies, audit and evaluation,
• Organisation/service development/planning,
• Commissioning or contracting,
• Saving money or contributing to financial effectiveness

Lessons learned

Being really clear about what is achievable within existing timescales and having a clearly structured approach meant that the Library team could work together to turn around this work in a short timescale.

Sustainability/next steps?

The Library team have been able to adapt the content of our current awareness for the Public Health team to reflect the priorities outlined in the STP.

The Library team may be involved in future searches to review specific interventions in more detail.

Contact:

Tracey Pratchett, Knowledge and Library Services Manager

Listening into Action (LiA) Library Support

Project team: Joanne Shawcross; Tracey Roberts Cuffin; Paul Tickner; Janet Reed

Resources required:

• Time to attend the Big Conversations, including travel.
• Clinical Librarian time to undertake literature searches.
• Access to relevant resources including HDAS and Emerald Management Collection

Timeframe:

September 2015 – April 2016 for initial project, however this will become business as usual for the library.

“The story”

UHMB Trust adopted the Listening into Action (LiA) approach to encourage and implement improvement within the organisation. The aim is to engage and empower staff to suggest and make changes that will improve services and also the experience of staff.

The scheme was launched in the Trust in September 2014. Each LiA scheme has a 20 week timeframe staring with a “Big Conversation” (BC) where all interested parties get together with a scheme sponsor. Several schemes run together in waves and at the end of each wave a “pass it on” event is held to share the achievements and lessons learned.

The library started to receive literature search requests linking to some of the LiA schemes. Without a full understanding of the area/subject being looked at it was sometimes difficult to provide comprehensive results. It was decided that if a library team member could attend all the BCs a fuller understanding of the scheme cold be gained and any questions could be asked there and then.

From September 2015 a librarian has attended the BCs whenever possible. A full picture of the scheme is gained and any areas when a literature search would be beneficial are noted. The librarian joins in the discussions and also suggests where providing evidence may help with the process.

After the event a full literature search is undertaken by a clinical librarian and provided to the LiA team and the scheme sponsor to circulate to others involved.
The library team attend the pass it on events at the end of each wave of schemes. At these events support from the library has been acknowledged in several of the scheme presentations.

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers:

Local: CQC Improvement Plan; UHMBT Quality Improvement Strategy 2016-19; Better Care Together; UHMBT Strategic Plan; Library and Knowledge Service Strategic Plan

National: NHS Efficiency; Listening into Action; Knowledge for healthcare: a development framework for NHS library and knowledge services in England 2015-2020

Impact for the organisation/customer:

The library is providing the evidence base for decision making to support change and improvement and is a key part of the improvement pathway.

Impact for the library:

This project has raised the profile of the library by reaching out to a wider user base. The library team are better known throughout the organisation and are being contacted to support staff in other areas.

Over the 9 month period a total of 23 searches taking 58.5 hours were carried out and attendance at meetings took up 28 hours of staff time.

Lessons learned :

Librarian involvement from the outset enables the clinical librarians to provide a more relevant, appropriate literature search package.

Sustainability / next steps?

The library team need to keep in touch with the LiA management team to ensure continuing involvement in the schemes from the outset.

As we increase involvement the workload will increase and therefore it is important to ensure that the library team have the capacity for the extra work involved.

Contact details: Joanne.shawcross@mbht.nhs.uk
Date case study completed: 10th May 2016

Health Management and Innovation Update (HMIU)

Project summary

• A monthly current awareness bulletin (HMIU bulletin) issued by the Library & Knowledge Service at West Suffolk NHS FT for the Trust Managers and Executive Directors.
• Based on the Health Management Updates bulletin produced by Knowledge & Library Services, Tameside Hospital NHS FT

Project team

• Laura Wilkes Library and Knowledge Services Manager West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
• James Allen Senior Library Technician West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
• Roshanara Nair, Library Services Manager Tameside Hospital NHS Foundation Trust

Resources required

Cost: Staff time to compile and distribute the updates, the majority of time  being spent by the  two library managers in compiling and arranging the content

People: Laura Wilkes and Roshanara  Nair (Library Managers); James Allen (Senior Library Technician)

Time: 

• For Roshanara to select content from the King’s Fund’s Health Management & Policy Alert which she receives weekly.
• For Roshanara to check other alerting /horizon scanning services & add content as appropriate
• for Roshanara to check and amend all the links, compile her Health Management Updates and distribute it
• for Laura to cut and paste the relevant sections from Roshanara’s Update and add any local news or additional relevant topics, and then to align each story to the Trust’s Vision, Priorities and  Ambitions
• for James to format the bulletin into our agreed format, upload to the website, advertise in the Green Sheet and Tweet the link to the latest Update

Technology: Standard email software to distribute the updates, internet access to carry out the searches and Office software to complete the formatting.

Expertise/skills mix required

•  Search skills in order to compile a relevant search strategy
• Knowledge and understanding of current & prevailing political, financial, quality and economic issues that may affect the NHS
• Good general understanding of local, UK and global health issues
• Ability to carry out horizon scanning or use resources which do so
• Good understanding of current affairs
• Ability to use other alerting services
• Ability to build and maintain good networks within the organisation
• Ability to align the content of the bulletins to local strategy and goals
• Ability to format documents quickly and efficiently
• Ability to use social media effectively to promote the bulletins
• Ability to utilise local promotional resources to promote the bulletins
• Ability to use web content software to update web sites

Timeframe: This is a monthly bulletin, delivered approximately at the beginning or middle of the month in time for the Monthly Board Report. There is an expectation that the bulletin will continue indefinitely.

“The story”

At West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust, the main aim of the Health Management and Innovation Update (HMIU) is to highlight national policies, evidence and reports which may impact on the Trusts’ Together Framework ‘(Our Patients, Our Hospital, Our Future, Together’) or help us to achieve our strategic goals.

In addition, the HMIU highlights innovation within the NHS and, specifically, local innovations within the Trust. The HMIU is essentially a current awareness bulletin aimed specifically at service and operational managers within the Trust, as well as the executive team.

The HMIU is a collaborative project between West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and Tameside NHS Foundation Trust, who produce the source document each month. Tameside have agreed to allow modifications to the basic template, and the LKS Manager at West Suffolk also selects content from other sources, local news and innovations and then adds it to the Tameside bulletin.

The draft bulletin is then formatted to align to the West Suffolk Trust’s Ambitions within the Together Framework – deliver personal, safe, joined-up care, support a healthy start, a healthy life, ageing well and support all our staff.

To ensure sustainability, the search strategy will be compiled and amended to suit the changing priorities of the NHS Trusts involved. More use will be made of additional alerting services to widen the scope of the update as needed.

The content of the update is used to inform sections of the monthly Trust Board Report as confirmed by the Chief Executive of West Suffolk in his Twitter feed.

Feedback is sought each month and testimonials confirm the positive impact of the update:

‘Regarding your HMIU, I always find two or three things of interest which I then look up. In the latest I looked up Deming or die and outpatient survey and 7 day working. I suspect others do the same. It is very helpful’

 ‘This is very useful to me. I don’t always look at every article but do always look to see if there is anything that I have missed that would be useful.’

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers 

Trust strategy (local)

• Our Patients, Our Hospital, Our Future, Together – Strategic Framework for West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust
• Vision – To deliver the best quality and safest care for our community
• Three Priorities – deliver for today, invest in quality, staff and clinical leadership, build a joined-up future
• Seven Ambitions – deliver personal care, safe care, joined-up care, support a healthy start, a healthy life, ageing well, support all our staff

Library Strategy 2013 to 2016 (local)

• Promotion of innovation within the trust and actively marketing the library service to the Executive Group (TEG) and to service and operational managers

Knowledge for Healthcare: a development framework for library and knowledge services in England 2015-2020 (national)

• Vision – NHS bodies, their staff, learners, patients and the public use the right knowledge and evidence, at the right time, in the right place, enabling high quality decision-making, learning, research and innovation to achieve excellent healthcare and health improvement.

Impact of this project/service

Customer: Feedback from users has been positive and constructive and clearly reveals that the content is relevant and useful.

Organisation: Some of the content from the HMIU is replicated in the monthly Board Report as confirmed by the Chief Executive and the Governance Manager

Library: The HMIU has raised the profile of the Library and the embedded role of the Innovation Scout.

Evaluation: Feedback is sought in every issue and, as well as posting the link to the update in the staff newsletter each month, the updates are added to the Library website and there is a regular distribution list who receive the update direct to their inbox. This includes the Chief Executive and other members of the executive team. The CEO has recorded his use of the content for the monthly Board Report.

Lessons learned: This has been a successful collaborative effort by two NHS library services to reach a difficult audience:  health managers and executive teams. By working together, it has been possible to keep costs within a reasonable limit and save time and duplication. The update enabled us to raise the profile of the Library, in particular our expertise with literature searching, alerting and research.

It is always difficult to obtain feedback which demonstrates impact but some examples have been provided and some new requests to be included on the distribution list have been received.

The update is reliant on the search strategy devised by Roshanara and if she decided not to continue that could create difficulties as we have established an expectation amongst our users that the service will continue.

Sustainability / next steps?  In order to address the reliance on another service to continue to provide the search strategy and to ensure continuity, the next step is to devise our own search strategy and to cast our net wider to gather relevant stories from different sources.

We will occasionally also produce a themed update, aligned to issues which are current within the Trust.

Contact details  Laura Wilkes, Library and Knowledge Services Manager, West Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust

Laura.wilkes@wsh.nhs.uk
Tel. 01284 713112

Date case study completed: 26.11.15

Case study: Producing a library promotional video

Project team
Library team
Marketing Manager

Resources required
Staff time
Cost of audio track ($25)
A video camera, tripod and video editing software were all provided by the Communications team

Timeframe
Planning commenced February 2015
Video launched July 2015

“The story”
The motivation to produce a short promotional video was inspired in February 2015 by a need to capture the impact of our service, and recognising that a short film might be a good way to do this.

We produced a series of storyboards and liaised with our Communications team to discuss key messages, intended audience and purpose. The key messages that we wanted to convey were that we were a service for all staff groups, and could be accessed anywhere, anytime, in any place.

We approached key LKS customers that we knew had a story to tell about the impact of our service. They were customers with whom we had built a good relationship and who indicated they would be happy to be involved.

We arranged a filming schedule over several weeks in April and May 2015 which included interviews with these customers as well as some additional footage of the McArdle Library.

Interviewees were asked about the service they had accessed, and the difference it had made to them and the wider organisation. We made sure that we filmed in a variety of locations, including Pharmacy, Accident and Emergency, Intensive Care and the Undergraduate Centre. We were keen to illustrate the wide variety of our customers and access points.

The footage was edited by the Communications team and a first edit presented to us in May 2015. The first edit was presented to the Workforce and Communications Group as well as the wider HR&OD team for comments and feedback. Following some minor changes (captions illustrating name/role of interviewees and additional graphics) we launched the final edit on the Trust’s YouTube channel on 1st July 2015.

Watch the video here. 

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers
This activity was closely aligned with Trust’s staff engagement agenda which is currently very high profile.

Impact of this project/service
The video successfully tells the stories of impact from customers of the LKS.

Our target was to achieve 100 views of the video in the first month after its release. 100 views of the video on YouTube was reached within days of the video being promoted. Currently the video has been viewed nearly 500 times on YouTube, allowing us to reach a new audience via this medium.

The video was promoted on Twitter via the Trust’s official Twitter feed which has over 2000 followers. It was re-tweeted by many people including other librarians and senior managers from within the organisation.

We got some feedback from people who viewed the video:

“That’s really good, I like how you got interviews with people we’ll have to do that!”

“It is fabulous! It has the right amount of services information and flows very naturally. The narrator captures your attention without sounding boring. I also thought the length is just about right.”

“This is really great! It’s a really good idea having customers talking about the benefits of the service.”

“Very impressive!”

“Involving the staff of the trust makes this one stand out from the crowd! Must have been difficult to organise but well worth the time.”

The project has also improved our relationship with the Communications team, who now have a more in-depth understanding of the services that we provide.

We now have a ‘ready made’ promotional video that we use at events and inductions to illustrate the services that we offer in the words of our customers, which is hopefully more meaningful.

We have additional footage that did not make the final edit that we are hoping to use to produce a series of shorter films that can be used to target specific staff groups.

The video has been shared across social media in the NW and beyond. We are currently liaising with Health Education England to embed the video in their webpages to illustrate the impact of NHS library services at a national level.

Lessons learned

What worked?

We had an extremely good working relationship with the Communications team who prioritised the project and worked to our deadlines.

We filmed in various locations (inside and outside the library) to illustrate the accessibility and flexibility of the service.

We identified people from different staff groups to film so that the video featured a diverse customer base.

Each person being filmed was interviewed in a very informal style and we didn’t use any scripts. This put them at ease and the end result is a very natural and meaningful series of statements from the customer.

The project was exciting and fun for the LKS team to work an and strengthened our relationships with the customers that were featured in the video.

What didn’t work?

We originally intended to have more graphics – however no resources or expertise were available in our Trust.

Filming took longer than expected due to the availability of the people we wanted to film so our timeframe slipped slightly.

Some locations in the hospital were not suitable filming locations due to technical or logistical issues (lighting, shared offices, patients in background).

Sustainability / next steps? As the stories of the customers told in the video start to date, we may need to produce a up to date version over the next couple of years.

We are currently using some footage that didn’t make the final edit to produce additional video ‘shorts’.

Contact details
Victoria Treadway
Library & Knowledge Service Lead
Wirral University Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
Victoria.treadway@nhs.net

Date case study completed
October 2015

Leadership Zone (Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust)

Project Team

Library Services Manager, Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust,  and both Site Librarians in collaboration with the Trust’s Leadership Academy manager.

Resources Required

Funding and space for additional bookstock, technical expertise in developing a website for leadership, staff time in developing collections and promoting them.

Timeframe

April 2012 onwards

“The Story”

In April 2012 we reconfigured some of the shelving in the Shrewsbury Health Library to create an area devoted to leadership and management books that included comfortable seating and chairs to encourage discussion and group working.

Over 170 new print books have been purchased for the collection, many based on reading lists provided by the Trust’s Leadership Academy manager, to support courses being undertaken by staff in the Trust.

More recently, over 200 e-books have been made available on a ‘patron-driven acquisition’ basis so we only buy the titles that are used, and we have begun a corporate subscription to the Health Service Journal.

In addition, we have also developed a Leadership Knowledge Centre to bring together our leadership resources.

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers

The Trust produced a leadership academy strategy (1), and employed a Leadership Development Manager in 2011, making this a high-priority.

The Leadership Development Manager in turn has promoted leadership education, and organised conferences that has increased leadership education uptake, and the need for library services to support the leadership agenda.

Several reports have stressed the link between leadership skills and better patient care, such as the Francis report about the clinical leadership failings at Mid-Staffordshire Hospital.

Partly as a consequence of this, the NHS Leadership Academy is actively promoting leadership learning for NHS staff.

1. Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital NHS Trust (2011). The Leadership Academy.

Impact of this project/service

During the period April – Septemeber 2012, issues from management books increased by 50% over the previous six months (from 747 to 1,118) and remained high with 1,064 issues in the six months to Apr 2013.

We’ve taken part in two of the Trust’s Leadership Conferences where we had a stall with management books and articles, resulting in much higher visibility for the leadership and management collections.

The Leadership Academy Manager has provided us with reading lists, and has also asked us to provide her with lists of books on leadership and coaching, along with QR codes so she can promote the lists to course attendees in the Trust.

Lessons Learned

One of our concerns was the breaking up of the standard classification sequence, and whether this would cause confusion. So far it doesn’t appear to have been a problem, but we made sure we had signposting in place, and the leadership collection books are identified with a coloured label protector.

The soft seating area has proved popular, but not with our target audience! Nursing students tend to be the biggest users of the seating area.

We would probably attract a lot more users likely to use the management collections if we could offer NHS WiFi and they could access their emails or hot-desk in the library, but this is something we have not been able to do so far.

Sustainability / next steps?

We have continued to build the physical and virtual collections of stock from our usual book budget, so it has proved sustainable.

We are gradually moving into e-books, but are offering these via patron-driven acquisition, so we only pay for what is used, but these will all be available via the catalogue so increasing the range of books available without taking up more shelf space (something we are beginning to run out of).

Contact details

Jason Curtis, Site Librarian, Royal Shrewsbury Hospital
jason.curtis@sath.nhs.uk, 01743 492507

Date case study completed:  March 2014

Using Clinical Librarians to support evidence-based, cost effective purchasing decisions

Project Team

Tissue Viability Nurse (TVN) Consultant and Specialist Tissue Viability nurses (acute & community) – to review/report on products & evidence and make final decisions.
Purchasing Manager –  supplier/clinician liaison and costings & data provision and analysis.
Assistant Clinical Librarian (CL) – to conduct literature searches.

Resources Required

Library resources: Assistant CL time (34.5 hours to complete 54 literature searches over a 2 month period)

Timeframe

Approx. 6 months from initial meeting to completion of review by TVN team.

“The Story”

The Tissue Viability Nurse Consultant and her team were due to undertake a review of the Wound Care Formulary Review used across the acute and community setting. Having been a frequent user of the CL, the nurse consultant requested CL input to as wanted to ensure that decisions regarding dressing choice were made on a comprehensive assessment of each product (incorporating the available evidence base, cost and availability, staff and patient-reported experience and outcomes).

Assistant CL attended meetings with an iPad to provide quick access to the evidence base for the dressings being evaluated by the group. Subsequent in-depth literature searches were undertaken to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of dressing types as well as specific products. Results were then disseminated across the group.

Meetings took place over the summer of 2013 and 54 searches were undertaken to provide the required evidence.

The project was completed and the new formulary was disseminated amongst the project team in January 2014.

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers

Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust Quality Strategy 2013 – 2018: “to provide the very best care to each patient on every occasion”

National Audit Office: The procurement of consumables by NHS acute and Foundation trusts (Feb 2011) “In the new NHS of constrained budgets, trust chief executives should consider procurement as a strategic priority”

NMC The Code: Standards of conduct, performance and ethics for nurses and midwives “Provide a high standard of practice and care at all times”

Impact of this project/service

TVN team now have a centrally-held repository of evidence relating to their specialist area with arrangements in place for regular updates from CLS.

Timely delivery of new wound care formulary.

Projected cost savings of £50,000 per annum for the lifetime of the formulary (3 years) achieved whilst quality maintained across the organisation.

Increased awareness and actual use of the CL and library service as a whole.

Lessons Learned

Opportunity for ongoing CL input valued by team.

CL able to refine current evidence & knowledge alerts to better suit the information needs of this user group.

Sustainability / next steps?

This project will be the subject of an article in the Trust magazine which will support the marketing of this project to other clinical and care teams trust wide.

This collaboration is to be included in promotional brochure for Learning & Organisation Development department.

Continued collaboration with this clinical team, resulting in actual increased uptake of library services to support the TVN team in both clinical and professional development (e.g. writing for publication, undertaking accredited study and conference presentations).

Anticipated CL involvement in subsequent formulary reviews.

Contact details

Jo Whitcombe,
Assistant Clinical Librarian
Pennine Acute Hospitals NHS Trust
0161 627 8462/ joanne.whitcombe@pat.nhs.uk

Date case study completed:  January 2014.

Working with Public Health and the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)

Project Team
Caroline Timothy – Public Health & Commissioning Librarian; Gary Sutton – Knowledge & Evidence Service Manager; Tracy Flute – Head of Public Health Analysis

Resources Required
A Service Level Agreement (SLA) between Warrington & Halton Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WHHFT) and Warrington Public Health.

Timeframe
A recent successful tender bid secured the contract for WHHFT for a further 3 years until July 2016.

“The Story”
As part of an SLA between WHHFT and NHS Warrington (the former PCT), an Outreach Librarian post was established in 2010. In April 2012, I was employed as Outreach Services Co-ordinator and then in October 2012, the job title was changed to Public Health & Commissioning Librarian to more closely reflect the work of the position. The main purpose of the post is to provide knowledge and library services to Warrington Public Health and Warrington CCG when and where they are needed.

I work as an embedded member of the Warrington Public Health and Warrington CCG teams. Mondays, Thursdays and alternate Fridays are spent working with the CCG, sitting with the staff in their office. Tuesdays, Wednesdays and alternate Fridays are spent with the Warrington Public Health team, again sitting with the team. The main service provided is literature searching. The searches that are requested are quite often on a large scale, in-depth, and require innovative resources to be consulted to find information! Current awareness is the second most requested service. The CCG and WPH Library Bulletins provide news and evidence for requested areas. The Knowledge & Evidence Service’s website is used to both market the service through the Public Health & Commissioning page and also to provide a daily update on the latest news items in public health and commissioning. Inter-library loans are another service that is requested and I provide all papers and books that are required. I also carry out training, which includes “Finding the Evidence”, and this has been requested as a one to one session up to now, although group training sessions are available. I really enjoy my job and am glad to be working with the CCG more closely now that we are in an open plan office. Agile working opens up the opportunity to meet more of the commissioning staff on a daily basis and to sit with different people. I like the fact that no two days are the same, that you are always meeting new people and that you get to help lots of different people with their information needs.

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers
The Warrington Public Health Memorandum of Understanding with Warrington CCG states that Public Health will provide library resources and outreach services to the CCG and local commissioning support should this be the expressed need of the recipients of the service.

Public Health Library and Knowledge Services Audit Report (July 2012)

Impact of this project/service for the:
• customer
• organisation
• library
Feedback from the two teams has been very complimentary and examples are below…
“This stuff is absolutely perfect and spot on with what we’re after”
“This is so useful, just scanned and found a few things that I needed to know”
“Thanks very much for your help with this- really useful – and at the right kind of detail”
The bi-annual reports produced as part of the SLA, show that there has been an increase in usage of the service, especially for literature search requests.

Lessons Learned
The main lesson learnt as a result of this work is that it is essential that the librarian is embedded into the 2 teams that they are working with. The bi-annual report shows that when the librarian has not been present (due to sickness absence with the previous post holder and during long periods of annual leave) the service usage statistics decrease quite dramatically. When the librarian is sitting with the teams, the team members come over to chat or meet the librarian at the photocopier or in the kitchen and often place their request for information then!

Sustainability / next steps?
The SLA between the Knowledge & Evidence Service at WHHFT and Warrington Public Health will end in July 2016 and it is envisaged that a new tender process will begin around that time.
It is possible that the service may be opened up/marketed to social care workers and others in the local authority where Public Health is now based.
My next steps are to attend more team meetings within Public Health and the CCG and to increase the usage of the library service amongst the two staff groups.

Contact details
Caroline.Timothy@nhs.net

Date case study completed
14/08/2013

Referrals Project

Title of project: Referrals project – NHS Cumbria

Lead libraries: University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust and North Cumbria Acute University Hospitals NHS Trust

Summary: The NHS Cumbria Evidence Based Referral document dated 14th July 2009 details the procedures that will not be funded by NHS Cumbria unless the patient meets the specific criteria outlined within the document. The Library services will support the revision of the existing document (due to be published in September 2010) by providing evidence summaries

Alignment to local, regional and national drivers:
NHS Cumbria Strategic Plan 2010, Page 51 http://www.cumbria.nhs.uk/AboutUs/HowWeMakeDecisions/TrustBoard/2010/03Mar/StrategicPlan2010.pdf
Evidence Based Referrals http://nww.intranet.cumbria.nhs.uk/GPZone/ReferralSupportAndPathwayEnhancement/Home.aspx
Mckinsey Report, page 37 http://www.dh.gov.uk/prod_consum_dh/groups/dh_digitalassets/documents/digitalasset/dh_116521.pdf

Partner organisations / project team:
University Hospitals of Morecambe Bay NHS Foundation Trust: Tracey Pratchett, Clinical Librarian
NHS Cumbria: Ed Hutton, Implementation Manager
North Cumbria Informatics Service: Pippa Orr, Knowledge Support Librarian

Key Audiences: GPs serving NHS Cumbria will use the Evidence Based referral document to streamline the referrals process

“The story”:  This was a short timescale project and occurred over 2 months. Unfortunately, it was difficult to provide a complete review of all areas of the document due to timescales as there were approximately 40 different recommendations. Initial meetings with the Librarians and Ed included discussions about timescales, identification of key search criteria to be applied to all searches, resources to be searched and priorities. A short agreement was devised outlining the library staff contribution.

Benefits for the customer / organisation: Ensuring that referral decisions are evidence based, streamlining and improving the quality of the referral process, ensuring appropriate access, clarifying the boundaries and ultimately saving money for NHS Cumbria.

Benefits for the library: Raised profile within NHS Cumbria about the skills and expertise provided by library staff. Advice provided on evidence use, copyright and access to resources.

Evaluation/ feedback: Evidence based referral document is in place. Quote from Ed Hutton Project Implementation Manager, NHS Cumbria; “The contributions from the Library Services staff were invaluable. Their depth of knowledge and understanding, as well as their ability to quickly interpret the requirements of the project into practical deliverables, were absolutely integral to the delivery and success of the Evidence Based Referrals initiative. I wouldn’t have been able to pull all this together without you.”

Lessons learned: There was a lack of understanding about sources of evidence and availability of information. Also, unrealistic timescales were set in order to carry out detailed literature searches for all areas involved and unfortunately, not all areas were updated and evidence was not fully incorporated into the document. Ultimately though, the work was completed and the library profile was raised within this area. Also provided library staff with an insight into the issues faced by PCTs and Acute Hospitals and raised awareness of potential conflicts of interest.

Project output: Evidence Based Referral document http://nww.intranet.cumbria.nhs.uk/GPZone/ReferralSupportAndPathwayEnhancement/Home.aspx

Timeframe: March-May 2010

Completion Date: 13.8.2010

Contact details: Tracey Pratchett, Clinical Librarian, (01524) 516021, Pippa Orr, Knowledge Support Librarian, (01228) 814879