Combined logos

North East London training Hub logo

Primary Care Library & Knowledge Services

NHS England Workforce, Training and Education (formerly Health Education England - HEE) funded 16 Primary Care Knowledge Specialist roles to work with Training Hubs to support colleagues in Primary Care Networks (PCNs) in their evidence-based practice, ongoing education, and professional development. North East London’s Primary Care Knowledge Specialist role was hosted by NELFT Library & Knowledge Service. The national funding for this service ended in July 2024. We were not able to secure continuation funding locally.

GPs, practice teams and primary care staff can get knowledge and evidence to support your work, development, study and research at Library resources for GP and practice teams - Knowledge and Library Services

For more information on NHS funded library and knowledge services in north East London visit Knowledge and Library Services for the North East London Integrated Care System (NEL-ICS)

Resources available via NHS OpenAthens

NHS Knowledge and Library Hub

This hub connects you to a range of high quality sources, all in one place. Access journals, e-books, BMJ Best Practice and Databases (Medline, EMBASE and CINHAL).

BMJ Best Practice

BMJ Best Practice is a clinical decision support tool which provides healthcare professionals with access to the latest relevant clinical information when making diagnosis and treatment decisions.

Mobile App: You can access BMJ Best Practice on your mobile devices. Once you have accessed the BMJ Best Practice website, click ‘Create account’ for a personal account or ‘Log in’ if you already have one. You will need your  account details to access the app. Access your App Store or Google Play store and search for ‘BMJ Best Practice’. Select the app and when prompted, use your BMJ Best Practice ‘account’ details to sign in and download the content.

British National Formulary  (BNF/BNFC)

The BNF and BNFC (British National Formulary for Children) provide UK healthcare professionals with authoritative, practical information on the selection and clinical use of medicines.

Mobile App: The NICE British National Formulary (BNF) app provides free, easy access to the latest prescribing information from the BNF. You can now access both adult and child BNF content from a single app. You can easily switch between BNF and BNFC content. You do not need an OpenAthens password to download the app. You do not need an Internet connection to use the new app.

e-Books

  • Oxford Academic  – Browse over 100 medical and healthcare eBooks (Oxford handbooks and textbooks) from Oxford University Press (OUP).
  • KorText – Read a wide range of eBooks including medical, nursing, diversity and inclusion online.

Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical and Cancer Nursing Procedures  (RMM)

Evidence based clinical skills and procedures related to essential aspects of patients care.

Browzine

Use the BrowZine Library to find the journals to which you have access. Select the ‘Choose My Library’ icon. Find your Trust or type NHS England and you’re good to go. If you have any problems accessing e-journals, please contact Sherin Francis, Primary Care Knowledge Specialist.

The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry 14th edition

The Maudsley Prescribing Guidelines in Psychiatry is the essential evidence-based handbook on the safe and effective prescribing of psychotropic agents. 

Trip Medical Database

Clinical search tool to retrieve information. Select ‘NHS England’ as your institution.

Get an NHS OpenAthens account to access resources!

All NHS staff are eligible for an OpenAthens account. Login details identify you as an NHS staff member and enable you to access to resources subscribed by NHS/ HEE.

Register for an OpenAthens account

  • Go to the https://openathens.nice.org.uk/
  • Click on the ‘Register’ button to fill the online registration form, Add your NHS email ID and ‘Primary care and ICB staff in North East London’ as your organisation.
  • Tick the box agreeing to the Terms & Conditions.
  • Click Submit.
  • You will receive an email containing a link; you must click the link to complete the process and to choose a password for your account.

NEL Primary Care Knowledge Specialist Service successes

NEL PCKS in numbers

 

NELPCKS Service ​

Number of people used the services ​

Access to BMJ Best Practice and clinical reference resources, eBooks, and journals  ​

712 ​

Number of Evidence/Literature searches ​

36 ​

Training sessions delivered ​

109 ​

People received training                     ​

1300 ​

Information resource-related queries        ​

1418 ​

People receiving current awareness alerts ​

100 ​

Outreach visits ​

15 ​

Organised conferences ​

North East London Evidence, Innovations, and Connections Conference ​

1 ​

Social Media: X (Twitter followers) ​

510 ​

NEL Evidence, Innovations, and Connections Conference

NELFT’s Medical Education, Library & Knowledge Services, NEL Training Hub and North East London Primary Care Knowledge Specialist welcomed colleagues from across the NEL system to the first North East London Evidence, Innovations, and Connections Conference at City Gates, Ilford on 26 of September. Despite a few absences due to illness, NEL Evidence23 was a resounding success. 

This conference was extremely important to the NEL Primary Care Knowledge Specialist service as it was formed with the fund received from NHS England Workforce, Training and Education, formerly Health Education England to bridge the gap in delivering library and knowledge services in North East London primary care and ICB. The conference was a timely opportunity to bring together health and care professionals, researchers, and policymakers to discuss and promote evidence-based practices and mobilising knowledge for future collaborations within North East London, especially in the primary care setting. 

Consultation with the potential attendees from North East London health and care sectors via a pre-conference survey back in the Spring yielded suggested topics to be included in the conference. This not only helped the team to capture the information needs but also to plan the conference topics and speakers. 

The conference featured a keynote address by Sue Lacey Bryant, Chief Knowledge Officer from NHS England shared the importance of using high-quality evidence to ensure effective and efficient clinical and managerial decision-making. In this keynote address, Sue emphasised that Knowledge Specialists can be key actors within learning health systems. She concluded her speech by reminding the attendees that knowledge-sharing tools are key to developing a Learning Health System in North East London. 

With a stacked agenda, the attendees enjoyed talks on ‘evidence, innovation and connections’ themed topics and panel discussions. To learn more about the topics, please click on the respective topics to access the slides.

The NEL Evidence23 conference provided a valuable opportunity for the attendees to learn from experts, and network with other professionals who were passionate about using evidence to make a difference in their field. Scroll through   #NELEvidence23 on X (previously Twitter) for a recap of the day . 

Acknowledgments

The NEL Evidence, Innovations, and Connections Conference was funded and organised by NELFT Medical Education. The Team would like to thank Paul Olaitan from BHR CEPN, Loraine Thompson from NELFT Medical Education, and the sponsor Sage Publications.