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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 12 July 2026

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 12 July 2026

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In this issue:

· A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

·  Libraries Change Lives

·   Contributing to international discourse about health knowledge and library services

·  Key resources and services for Resident Doctors

·   Resource of the month: BMJ Best Practice App

·    Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

·   Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 22 July 2026, Issue 12

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 11 April and May 2026

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 11 April and May 2026

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In this issue:

·       A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

·       National Recognition for the Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy

·       International Nurses Day 2026

·       Coming up: Libraries Change Lives

·       Coming up: A new look to CINAHL and Medline on EBSCOHost

·       Resource of the month: Integrating BMJ Best Practice with patient record systems

·       Hantavirus: BMJ Best Practice topic

·       Have you got your NHS OpenAthens key to unlock knowledge resources?

·       Partnership Perfection: Recognising the Knowledge, Library and Information Management Profession

·       Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

·       Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

·       New resources to support advanced levels of practice

·       The Long-Term Conditions and Prevention (LTCP) team is pleased to announce the launch of the next cohort of the Applied Population Health Programme (APHP)

·       Chief Allied Health Professions Officer (CAHPO) Awards 2026 – Nominations open on Friday 1 May 2026

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, April and May 2026, Issues 11

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 10 March 2026

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 10 March 2026

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Library resources for Healthcare Scientists

What is it like to be an Outreach Librarian in the NHS?

What is Health Research? New E-Learning modules and how your knowledge and library specialist can help

Coming up: Share your views about what you 'need' to access and use knowledge and evidence in your role in the NHS

Coming up:  BMJ Best Practice and state-of-the-art care for Sepsis in Adults Webinar

Resource of the month: Ovid Databases

Spotlight on: The Resource Discovery team

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 9 February 2026

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 9 February 2026

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Are you making the most of the expertise in your NHS knowledge and library services team?

Resource of the month: Search in your own words

Resource Discovery: Have you got your NHS OpenAthens key to unlock knowledge resources?

Spotlight on Knowledge Retention and Transfer Tools

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

Autism Central: A free NHS service for professionals to add to their autism signposting toolkit

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 25 February 2026, Issue 9

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 8 January 2026

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 8 January 2026

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Health Literacy and Patient Information: Health Information Week round-up

Health Literacy and Patient Information: Evidence-based techniques to improve communication

Mobilising Evidence and Knowledge: Learning after techniques

Resource of the month: health literacy geodata

Spotlight on Resource Discovery: LibKey Nomad

Partnership Perfection: NHS App and libraries

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

NHS Excellence Awards now open for entries

Modernising healthcare curricula

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 28 January 2026, Issue 8

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 6-7 November 2025

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 6-7 November 2025

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Information skills E-Learning on the move

Coming up:  A celebration by NHS knowledge and library staff

Coming up:  Health Information Week, 19 to 25 January 2026

Resource of the month: Knowledge Mobilisation Framework

Resource Discovery: Have you got your NHS OpenAthens key to unlock knowledge resources?

Partnership Perfection: Improving E-Learning design

Spotlight on KNOWvember

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

Improving the Quality of Ethnicity Data Across the NHS

World Diabetes Day: Help us spot type 1 diabetes early and prevent life-threatening complications

Host a graduate trainee – apply for September 2026

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November and December 2025, Issues 6-7

Welcome to this month's bulletin providing news and information for NHS staff and learners, helping you to make the most of your NHS knowledge and library service for lifelong learning, research, innovation and everyday decision making.

Find out more about the work of the national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team or take a look at Knowledge for Healthcare.
In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Information skills E-Learning on the move

Coming up: A celebration by NHS knowledge and library staff

Coming up: Health Information Week, 19 to 25 January 2026

Resource of the month: K nowledge Mobilisation Framework

Resource Discovery: Have you got your NHS OpenAthens key to unlock knowledge resources?

Partnership Perfection: Improving E-Learning design

Spotlight on KNOWvember

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Quality, Improvement and Impact: Celebrating good practice

Improving the Quality of Ethnicity Data Across the NHS

World Diabetes Day: Help us spot type 1 diabetes early and prevent life-threatening complications

Host a graduate trainee - apply for September 2026

Recognising the valuable contribution made by NHS knowledge and library staff to improving healthcare outcomes is always worth celebrating. As part of #KNOWvember we shine a light on how librarians and knowledge specialists enable the healthcare workforce to apply evidence into practice, build know-how, continue to learn and drive innovation.

In December it is always a pleasure to host a celebration event for all NHS knowledge and library staff to be inspired by keynote speakers and learn from each other's good practice.

As the year closes, please join me in thanking this small, specialist workforce. In 2026 consider sharing your stories of how you have benefited from working with your knowledge and library service teams. We invite you to be part of #AMillionDecisions, highlighting the need to use research evidence to inform over a million decisions a day in healthcare.

Looking for top tips to find research literature or to critically appraise a research paper? Head over to the NHS Learning Hub which will become the new home for all knowledge and library service E-Learning modules in 2026.

You can already access from the Hub the Knowledge Mobilisation Framework modules to master tools and techniques to help you learn before, during and after all that you do. You can share and apply this knowledge to avoid pitfalls and accelerate good practice.

The Learning Hub will also host the Health Literacy E-Learning, with simple techniques to improve how you communicate and check understanding with others.

If you haven't used these modules before, give them a go and update your bookmarks and links as they move to the new platform.

Quality information empowers people to manage their health proactively and to access the right care at the right time. It supports the shift from treatment to prevention. The five themes can be used daily, or throughout the week:

Monday 19 January 2026 - Children and Young People

Tuesday 20 January 2026 - Translated Patient Information

Wednesday 21 January 2026 - Women's Health

Thursday 22 January 2026 - Mental Health

Friday 23 January 2026- Winter Health

The Health Information Week resources page provides signposting to information relating to each of the 5 themes plus an ideas bank and tips for holding virtual events. Use the resources to Take part in Health Information Week events in your local health, public, university, college and school libraries.

Learning, improving and transforming in times of change - easy-to-use guidance
The pace of change has never been so high in the NHS - new medicines, technologies, ways of working. The opportunities of AI. The 10-year health plan outlines a commitment to new operating and workforce models, and a renewed focus on innovation to support the 3 shifts of hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention. As change occurs, it will be a challenge to keep up; to unpick evidence of what works and improve and transform effectively and efficiently.

Whatever your role, taking the time to assimilate, understand and apply learning from the evidence base, your team's delivery experience and insight, and the insights of other teams or peers in communities and networks, can be invaluable. Packaging and sharing your insights will support others who face similar challenges, too.

The Knowledge Mobilisation postcards provide easy-to-use guidance for 13 activities that support teams learn, improve and transform. A part of NHS England's Knowledge Mobilisation Framework, they support teams at all stages of their work, for example:

horizon scanning for the latest evidence at the start a new piece of work,

assessing what's working and what's not as a team delivers,

connecting with peers to learn from their experiences and expertise,

and packaging key learning and content to support others in the future.

The postcards contain straightforward, step-by-step guidance for activities such as after-action-reviews, randomised coffee trials, communities of practice, knowledge assets and retrospective learning. They all contribute to a collaborative, learning and knowledge culture, in teams, departments and organisations.

The postcards are accessible to all. For support with using and applying the tools, contact england.kfh@nhs.net or your local NHS knowledge and library services team.

Information skills training is part of the key ser www.e-lfh.org.uk vice offer from NHS knowledge and library services. In 2022 to 2023 over 12,844 sessions were attended by around 51,000 health care staff. These sessions cover a range of subjects, including information and research skills; principles of evidence-based healthcare; health literacy awareness and knowledge mobilisation and communication delivered to small groups or individuals.

Alongside these offers, a suite of E-Learning programmes are also available. These have been developed by the national Knowledge and Library Services team working in partnership with subject matter experts and instructional design specialists. Read more about how our partnership approach to designing E-Learning content has led to improved outputs.

Why not develop your skills by exploring a couple of modules from the following:

Learning about the patient experience via knowledge cafes
At Dorset County Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, the expertise of the library services team has been used to learn about patient experiences leading to development of an evidence-based Communicating with Patients Policy. To inform this, the library services team worked with the Director of Nursing to organise and facilitate a knowledge conversation café to encourage discussion between Trust staff and patients about the patient experience.

"The first Conversation Cafe with the deaf community was so successful and actually led to a whole improvement plan that we would not have come to on our own if we were thinking about how we improve services.  It led to a Board level presentation by one of the participants.  Sharing the lived experience within the conversation cafe, capturing insights and data is feeding into our Communicating with Patients policy and leading to thinking about accessible information standards for all patients and staff."

Director of Nursing, Dorset County Hospital.

Improving the Quality of Ethnicity Data Across the NHS
NHS England has launched an Ethnicity Recording Improvement Plan, to strengthen the quality, consistency and completeness of ethnicity data across the NHS.

Good data means better decisions. By recording accurate, complete and up-to-date information, we can plan services more effectively and make sure everyone receives fair access, experiences and outcomes.

The plan sets out practical steps for NHS organisations identify and address data quality issues, helping us better understand and tackle health inequalities.

To support the Plan's implementation, we are hosting a webinar on Tuesday 2 December from 2pm to 3.30pm. We will set out ambitions of the Plan and expectations of ICBs and providers, share practical examples of improving ethnicity recording and support organisations

World Diabetes Day: Help us spot type 1 diabetes early and prevent life-threatening complications
Type 1 diabetes can present at any age but most commonly presents in children and young people. It is not caused by lifestyle factors. It is an auto-immune condition, where antibodies cause the pancreas to stop making insulin, resulting in high blood glucose levels.

People living with type 1 diabetes need lifelong insulin treatment to manage their condition and keep them well. More than 90% of children and young people in England have type 1 diabetes.

Early diagnosis saves lives
Nearly 40% of children and young people in England are in life-threatening Diabetic Ketoacidosis (DKA) at diagnosis - and this percentage is rising. It can be difficult to spot type 1 diabetes in the early stages, especially in younger children and infants. Often, children also present with an acute illness like a viral infection or tonsillitis, so it is important to be vigilant for the symptoms and signs of type 1 diabetes.

Know the 4Ts
This World Diabetes Day, NHS England is raising awareness of the symptoms of type 1 diabetes by promoting the '4Ts' via public and patient-facing channels. Look out for these four key symptoms of new onset type 1 diabetes:

Toilet - going for a wee more often, especially at night. In younger children this may include new bedwetting, or nappies being heavier than usual

Thirsty - being constantly thirsty and drinking more than usual

Tired - being very tired and having less energy

Thinner - losing weight without trying to or looking thinner than usual

Take urgent action Learn more and help raise awareness of the 4Ts

Host a graduate trainee - apply for September 2026
The NHS Graduate Management Training Scheme (GMTS) are seeking applications from health and care organisations across England to host the upcoming September 2026 cohort of trainees.

Established in 1956, GMTS has almost 70 years of graduate training expertise and is ranked third in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers.

The scheme offers trainees the opportunity to develop into future leaders, with fast-track funded leadership development for up to two and a half years in one of our non-clinical specialisms that currently include general management, human resources, finance, and health informatics.

Trainees undertake two centrally assured placements in host organisations alongside which they complete postgraduate qualifications and leadership development training. As a host, you'll play a vital role in shaping the next generation of NHS leaders by offering real-world experience, mentorship, and insight into the complexities of healthcare management.

For more information, visit - Host a trainee - Graduate Management Training Scheme.

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, November and December 2025, Issues 6-7

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November and December 2025, Issues 6-7 Welcome to this month's bulletin providing news and information for NHS staff and learners, helping you to make the most of your NHS knowledge and library service for lifelong learning, research, innovation and everyday decision making.

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 5 October 2025

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 5 October 2025

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Health Literacy Month

Green Libraries Week, 27 October to 2 November 2025

USA Government shut-down – what does it mean for PubMed and Medline?

Coming up: KNOWvember

Resource of the month: Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures

Partnership Perfection: Patient Information Forum (PiF) Partnership

Spotlight on the Quality Improvement Outcomes Framework for NHS-funded Knowledge and Library Services

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Please help to promote the National Education and Training Survey (NETS) 2025

10 Year Wor kforce Plan call for evidence

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 22 October 2025, Issue 5

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 4 September 2025

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 4 September 2025

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

AI FAQs evaluating current and emerging technologies

Coming up:  Health Literacy Month

Coming up: World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day, 20 October 2025

Resource of the month: Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines

Partnership Perfection:  Communities of Practice

Spotlight on transformational supply of research articles

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Share your views – help define the next era of nursing and midwifery in England

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Wednesday 24 September 2025, Issue 4

Welcome to this month's bulletin providing news and information for NHS staff and learners, helping you to make the most of your NHS knowledge and library service for lifelong learning, research, innovation and everyday decision making.

Find out more about the work of the national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team or take a look at Knowledge for Healthcare.

In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

AI FAQs evaluating current and emerging technologies

Coming up: Health Literacy Month

Coming up: World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day, 20 October 2025

Resource of the month: Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines

Partnership Perfection: Communities of Practice

Spotlight on transformational supply of research articles

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

Share your views - help define the next era of nursing and midwifery in England

Last week I had the pleasure of speaking to NHS knowledge and library colleagues about the 10 Year Health Plan. As I prepared, it became apparent that the skills and expertise of knowledge specialists will be vital to underpin the ambition outlined in the plan.

Activities linked to the 3 shifts; hospital to community; analogue to digital and treatment to prevention will need to be evidence-based so learning can be spread and adopted quickly elsewhere and pitfalls avoided - knowledge specialists have the expertise to deliver this.

There is a need to draw-upon evidence from research as well as knowledge of good practice, identifying what is working well elsewhere and capturing learning from what did not go so well. This all needs to be mobilised and applied to suit local circumstances, feeding into quality care outcomes and continuous learning health systems.

I was interested to see the importance of providing an appropriate location for self-directed learning highlighted within the Getting the basics right for resident doctors: 10 Point Plan.

I am often asked if, with the growing availability of digital knowledge resources, there is still a need for a physical library space. In a busy health environment, library spaces are often the only place where staff can undertake self-directed learning. Library spaces are also regularly used for collaborative work and to drive innovation.

Recommendations within the Learning Space within NHS Knowledge and Library Services in England policy help to guide the development of library spaces which, and like much in the 10 Point Plan, benefit all NHS staff.

Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models have the potential to transform the way we live and work. But when these technologies impact on decision-making, evidence-based practice and patient safety, we need to know that they are effective and trustworthy.

NHS knowledge and library services are taking a managed approach to the implementation of new technologies on the Knowledge and Library Hub and associated platforms. Each product development is tested by our volunteer expert searchers and the findings inform a formal decision about whether and how the functionality should be deployed. For example, natural language search has been deployed on the Knowledge and Library Hub because it makes a material improvement to the basic search experience. On the other hand, AI Summaries have not been deployed because the reviewers felt that the article summaries could be misleading.

There are copyright issues with using AI on licensed materials like books and journals. A copyright exception permits text and data mining (TDM) for the purposes of non-commercial research. However, this exemption does not cover the use of generative AI - AI which creates new content in response to instructions form a user. In most cases, a separate licence or express permission from the copyright owner will be required for this. For more information, check out our FAQs on generative AI.

October is international Health Literacy Month. Health literacy refers to the ability to access, assess and use health information. In England, 43% adults aged 16-65 struggle to understand health information that just contains words - and when numbers are added, this rises to 61% who struggle. You can use the geodata tool we developed with the University of Southampton to find the health literacy levels in your borough.

The theme chosen by the Health Literacy Month organisers this year is the role of health literacy in increasing health equity. A range of promotional tools has been developed by the international organisers. You may also find the tools developed by the national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team helpful including new Misinformation UnMASKED animations developed in partnership with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust.

This October, the national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team is working with the Patient Information Forum to launch a new interface for the PIF TICK directory of materials by information producers that have the PIF TICK quality accreditation. Do consider using Health Literacy Month as a prompt for your communications.

In 2025 the World Evidence-Based Healthcare Day is asking for shared experiences, innovations, challenges, lessons learned and insights into how knowledge travels and transforms lives. The focus this year is on collaborative knowledge communication explaining that:
"In evidence-based healthcare, knowledge should not come only from scientific evidence (such as findings from clinical trials, observational studies, and systematic reviews). It also needs to come from community values and preferences, clinical expertise, policy judgement, contextual understanding, evaluation of existing approaches, and experiences. Knowledge is shaped by the interactions among people, systems, and settings, and it is applied to inform decision-making, enhance practice, and improve health outcomes."
On the 20 October 2025 why not have a go at using one of our knowledge mobilisation techniques to get knowledge flowing.

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 24 September 2025, Issue 4

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Wednesday 24 September 2025, Issue 4 Find out more about the work of the national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team or take a look at Knowledge for Healthcare.

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 3 August 2025

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 3 August 2025

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Health literacy and patient information: Over 170 NHS knowledge and library staff equipped to deliver accredited health literacy training

Coming up: Health Literacy Month

Resource of the month: TRIP Pro and AskTrip

BMJ Best Practice and state-of-the-art care for asthma in adults webinar

Have you got your NHS OpenAthens key to unlock knowledge resources?

Partnership Perfection: Copyright Licensing Agency (CLA) licence

Spotlight on the Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy information skills E-Learning modules

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions: Workforce Planning and Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The NHS launches new WhatsApp Channel

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 27 August 2025, Issue 3

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 2 July 2025

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 2 July 2025

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

A fresh look for your NHS Knowledge and Library Hub

Coming up:  New role?  Make friends with your NHS librarians and knowledge specialists

Resource of the month: The Cochrane Library

Resource Discovery: Have you got your NHS OpenAthens key to unlock knowledge resources?

Partnership perfection: NICE roundtable

Spotlight on the service desk team: Hi how can we help you?

Quality, Improvement and Impact:  NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Wednesday 23 July 2025, Issue 2

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 1 June 2025

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare Issue 1 June 2025

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In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Health literacy and patient information. Misinformation UnMASKED: tackling health misinformation online

Resource Discovery: Digital knowledge resources: the national core collection

Share your views on the collection of national e-books, e-journals and databases

Resource of the month: BMJ Best Practice

Partnership perfection: working with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions: Improving patient flow

Guidance to support implementation of the Mental Capacity Act in acute trusts for adults with a learning disability

The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice: Transforming Care for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People

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Monday 30 June 2025, Issue 1

Welcome to this month's bulletin providing news and information for NHS staff and learners, helping you to make the most of your NHS knowledge and library service for lifelong learning, research, innovation and everyday decision making.
In this issue:

A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England

Health literacy and patient information. Misinformation UnMASKED: tackling health misinformation online

Resource Discovery: Digital knowledge resources: the national core collection

Share your views on the collection of national e-books, e-journals and databases

Resource of the month: BMJ Best Practice

Partnership perfection: working with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions: Improving patient flow

Guidance to support implementation of the Mental Capacity Act in acute trusts for adults with a learning disability

The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice: Transforming Care for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People

It is a pleasure to share the inaugural Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare with you. Against a backdrop of uncertainty there are a lot of exciting developments taking place to continue to improve the delivery of NHS Knowledge and Library Services.

In each bulletin we will showcase different aspects of the work of the national team and this month we are highlighting the partnership approaches to tackle health misinformation online; featuring the clinical decision support tool BMJ Best Practice; and providing some tips on using the fabulous core collection of digital knowledge resources.

In this issue we are also sharing a case study from East Cheshire NHS Trust Knowledge and Library Service, highlighting the valuable contribution of the clinical librarian to decision making, leading to an improved patient flow initiative.

Health literacy and patient information. Misinformation UnMASKED: tackling health misinformation online

The NHS England Knowledge and Library Services Team have worked with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust to create resources to help people to unmask health misinformation.

Resources were designed based on views of the public, NHS and public library staff. They include:

A Misinformation UnMASKED checklist

Animations helping people spot misinformation and find reliable health information

Take a look at the first animation in the series and the checklist and share widely.

Look out for more animations to follow over the summer!

#MisinformationUnmasked

Resource Discovery: Digital knowledge resources: the national core collection

An extensive range of resources such as e-books, e-journals and databases are available for everyone providing care to NHS patients. These can be used for study, research, professional development and to inform everyday work decisions.

There is a single Knowledge and Library Hub you can use to connect you to high quality, NHS-funded knowledge and evidence resources without having to search elsewhere.

A search on the Hub will bring back more reliable search results than a general web search with access to all journal articles, e-books, guidelines and evidence summary tools provided nationally, and those purchased by your local NHS library team.

Find out more about the full national core collection
NHS OpenAthens Accounts to unlock knowledge resources
To make the most of your core collection of e-books, e-journals, databases and clinical decision support tools check you have an active NHS OpenAthens account.

Sign-up here or refresh your password

Share your views on the collection of national e-books, e-journals and databases

Those of you who are familiar with the national core collection will notice some changes from July 2025.

Find out more about why these changes have been made and please provide your feedback about how you use the national core collection.

Resource of the month: BMJ Best Practice

Are you ever short of time and need to put your fingertips on the latest diagnosis or treatment guidance for a wide range of health conditions?

Are you caring for patients who have a mixture of different long term health conditions?

Are you a student who needs help to prepare for clinical practice?

BMJ Best Practice is funded by NHS England for everyone delivering care to NHS patients to help inform clinical decision making with the latest evidence from guidance and research.

The app gives you access at the point-of-care on or offline.
"When I'm working under pressure, and have to make decisions very quickly, BMJ Best Practice is my immediate help on hand. It's got everything in a nutshell, it's concise and to the point." Dr Renju Chidambaran
Senior Clinical Teaching Fellow & Medical Doctor Croydon University Hospital

Find out more and set-up your access to BMJ Best Practice today.

Partnership perfection: working with South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust

By working in partnership, we can leverage different skills, resources and access to community groups and healthcare professionals to ensure that the tools we create will be relevant to the communities we serve. This is happening with the partnership between the NHS England Knowledge and Library Team and South Tyneside Sunderland NHS FT and Sunderland University. The partnership team are producing resources to address both sides of the health literacy coin - developing skills to access and use health information and improving communication between healthcare professionals and patients/service users.
Health misinformation online
The first set of resources address health misinformation online. Sunderland University Health Literacy Team ran focus groups with the public to find out their experiences of misinformation and what resources would help them to feel more confident online. The South Tyneside Team created the animation and checklist and tested them with a group of patients.
Tools to help healthcare professionals
The next step is to develop a set of resources to highlight two evidence-based techniques to make communication with patients more effective: Teach Back and Chunk and Check. Again, based on user research, these tools will be practical and reflect an NHS working context.

Quality, Improvement and Impact: NHS knowledge and library specialists bringing the evidence you need to inform your decisions: Improving patient flow

Elderly Care Matron, East Cheshire NHS Trust requested a search about improving patient flow and timely discharge.Thelibrarian conducted a search and gathered research evidence which demonstrated that having a dedicated role to support discharge delivers many benefits, including improved system flow. This resulted in a 12-week trial of patient flow support workers facilitating improvement with 297 discharges and these roles are now substantive.

"The role is a dedicated patient flow role and does not have competing priorities other clinical staff have and discharge planning is prioritised. This means that the patient experience and bed capacity will be improved by more dedicated care." Michelle Gillespie, Matron Elderly Care​, East Cheshire NHS Trust ​

Find out more about #AMillionDecisions or watch our short animation about how NHS Knowledge and Library Services give The Gift of Time

Guidance to support implementation of the Mental Capacity Act in acute trusts for adults with a learning disability

NHS England published guidance and practical tools for front line clinicians in acute and community trusts to download to ensure that the Mental Capacity Act is applied properly for people with a learning disability when they are in hospital.

The range of resources include a flow chart to help you decide when to access capacity, a helpful checklist to support preparation for assessing the mental capacity of someone with a learning disability and a downloadable poster for wards.

The Oliver McGowan Code of Practice: Transforming Care for People with a Learning Disability and Autistic People

The Department of Health and Social Care has launched the Oliver McGowan Code of Practice, marking a significant milestone in improving healthcare for people with a learning disability and autistic people.

The Code, which supports the statutory training requirements introduced by the Health and Care Act 2022, was laid in Parliament on 19 June 2025 and sets clear standards for CQC-registered providers.

The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism - named after Oliver McGowan, who tragically died in 2016 after a severe allergic reaction after receiving medication despite family objections - is the government's recommended training package. Over 3 million people have already completed the first part and there are now more than approved 2,700 trainers delivering interactive sessions for part 2 nationwide.

For more information about Oliver's Training, visit: The Oliver McGowan Mandatory Training on Learning Disability and Autism | NHS England | Workforce, training and education.

Our monthly bulletin provides news and information for NHS staff and learners, helping you to make the most of your NHS knowledge and library services for lifelong learning, research, innovation and everyday decision making.

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Spotlight on Knowledge for Healthcare, Monday 30 June 2025, Issue 1

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Monday 30 June 2025, Issue 1 In this issue: A message from Louise Goswami, Chief Knowledge Officer, NHS England Health literacy and patient information.