BUCKINGHAMSHIRE HOSPITALS NHS TRUST LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES ANNUAL REPORT APRIL 2009 - MARCH 2010 AND SERVICE OBJECTIVES APRIL 2010 - MARCH 2011 Wilfred Stokes Library Chiltern Medical Library Library Service Mission To provide high quality information services and evidence resources for clinical and management decision making, clinical governance, lifelong learning and research to clients of the Trust Library Service. Jennie Kelson Library Services Manager July 2010
CONTENTS 1 INTRODUCTION... 3 2 ACHIEVEMENTS 2009-2010... 3 2.1 Clinical Outreach Librarian... 3 2.2 Evaluation of Point of Care Resources.. 4 2.3 Core Collection of Health Care Books for Patients and Public.. 4 2.4 Library Subject Guides.... 5 2.5 Athens Statistics... 5 2.6 Collection Development... 6 2.7 OLIB Library Management System & SWIMS Implementation. 7 3 ACTIVITY DATA... 7 3.1 Library Membership... 7 3.2 Use of Services... 8 3.2.1 UpToDate 8 3.2.2 E-journals 8 3.2.3 Issues (book and journal loans).. 9 3.2.4 Document Supply and Inter-Library Loans (ILLs).. 9 3.2.5 Current Awareness Services 9 3.3 Literature Searches/Enquiries...... 9 3.3.1 Literature Searches.. 9 3.3.2 Enquiries. 10 3.4 Learning and Development. 11 3.5 Information Literacy Skills... 11 3.6 Other Services... 12 3.6.1 Physical Library Sites and Computer Facilities 12 3.6.2 Database Development 13 3.7 Marketing and Promotion of Library and Information Service... 13 4 FACILITIES... 13 4.1 Chiltern Medical Library, Wycombe Hospital... 13 4.2 Staff Library, Amersham... 13 4.3 Wilfred Stokes Library, Stoke Mandeville Hospital..... 13 5 STAFFING...... 14 5.1 Library Establishment... 14 5.2 Staff Turnover... 14 5.3 Staff Training and Development... 15 5.3.1 Mandatory Training... 15 5.3.2 Other training and development... 15 5.3.3 OLIB Library Management System... 15 5.3.4 Participation in local/regional/national networks... 15 6 FINANCIAL REPORT... 16 7 CONCLUSION... 16 APPENDICES... 18 1 Service Objectives and Key Deliverables 2010-2011...18 2 Trust Library Services Staffing Structure. 20-2 -
1 INTRODUCTION I am pleased to present this, our second, Annual Report of the Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust (BHT) library service. The report will inform our clients and stakeholders of our activities and successes during the past year and outlines our objectives for 2010/11. During 2009/10, the library service achieved a number of key initiatives covering: Service improvements including the appointment of a Clinical Outreach Librarian, introduction of training courses in statistics and critical appraisal, publication of additional library subject guides and extensive updating of the book stock. Customer engagement through projects to evaluate point of care resources and consultation prior to the closure of the Staff Library, Amersham. Quality initiatives such as the publication of the Core Collection of Health Care Books for Patient and Public and weeding of book stock. Technical advances such as purchase of additional electronic journal and book collections with links via the online catalogues and the introduction of automatic email reminders for overdue items. 2 ACHIEVEMENTS 2009-2010 The following achievements in particular are noted: 2.1 Clinical Outreach Librarian In October, we were very pleased to appoint Elaine Watson to the new post of clinical outreach librarian. This position helps expand the library role as Elaine now has the ability to work more closely with clinical teams within the hospital and PCT, helping them find and evaluate information to support best patient care. Elaine s previous experience working in the acute Trust and in primary care has proved beneficial in making this new role a success. Since her appointment, Elaine has trained over 108 staff members and completed just under 40 detailed literature search requests. In addition to the delivery of our information literacy skills sessions, Elaine has developed and delivered monthly lectures on the interpretation of medical statistics to the paediatrics department. She also attends their journal club/ critical appraisal skills sessions each month. Elaine has been able to deliver a number of additional training events to staff at their place of work, including sessions on BMJ Learning to GPVTS trainees and search skills workshops to physiotherapy staff. She has also updated and expanded the training and development sections of the library website and revamped the library training programme. - 3 -
2.2 Evaluation of Point of Care Resources Point of care resources are designed for use by busy clinical staff at the patient bedside or in clinics. They provide summarised, evidence-based information with links to treatment guidelines and patient information sheets. In February and March, we conducted a detailed evaluation of three point of care resources Best Practice, Dynamed and UpToDate. The evaluation study was designed to capture details as to the usefulness of each resource in answering a range of typical clinical queries and to assess user satisfaction of staff in clinical settings. Despite extensive promotion, including training events, we were unable to recruit sufficient staff to the study. We are planning to repeat the survey during the autumn. 2.3 Core Collection of Health Care Books for Patients and Public There is a growing recognition that patients want and need good health care information to help them make informed choices about their care and healthy lifestyles. Drawing on their previous experience running patient information resource centres, Jennie Kelson and Sue Lacey Bryant (an independent information specialist) jointly compiled a guide to reliable and up to date books for adults about common diseases and conditions, and about life events which often affect health and wellbeing. Cover image and example of book contents This core collection, aimed at staff in public libraries or patient s libraries in hospitals or general practice, covers 44 subject areas from allergies to women s health. Tomlinsons, a national book supplier, kindly published and distributed the core collection to public and health care libraries. Book details are available on the Tomlinsons website and those of other major booksellers including Amazon and Blackwells Bookshop. Feedback has been very positive with many people commenting how useful the guide has been in helping them select appropriate stock for their patient collections or health care sections in public libraries. - 4 -
2.4 Library Subject Guides Library subject guides, covering seven topic areas, were launched in September 2008. A further seven guides were added over the past year and all guides were updated in January to reflect new book and journal purchases. New titles in our series of library subject guides Copies of the guides are available at each library site and may be downloaded from the library website. Each guide provides details of useful websites, plus journal and book holdings relevant to key clinical disciplines or subject specialties. Subject guides available at the end of March include: Cardiology Occupational Therapy Dental Nursing Orthopaedics Dermatology Pharmacy Finance and Health Economics Physiotherapy General Practice Radiography Midwifery Speech and Language Therapy Nutrition and Dietetics Spinal Injuries The guides are very popular, as demonstrated by download statistics, and have proved especially useful for new staff and students on placement. Our most popular guide, according to our usage statistics, is the Midwifery guide with over 500 downloads since the launch. Guides on Radiography, Physiotherapy and Finance are also popular with 428, 410 and 395 downloads respectively. Further guides are planned for the coming year. 2.5 Athens Statistics Access to the majority of our electronic resources is via Athens authentication, an access management system adopted across the NHS. Once registered with Athens, library users can use seamlessly a variety of resources, including databases, full-text journals and books, which have been purchased at national, regional or local level. The number of Athens registrations for BHT staff decreased from 951 in April 2009 to 886 in March 2010, a decrease of 6.8%. Although 21% of the total workforce was registered during June and July, this number dipped to 19% at year end, which is lower than the average for other Trusts across South Central (24%). - 5 -
The number of Athens registrations for Bucks PCT staff increased from 424 in April 2009 to 538 in March 2010, an increase of 26%. The number of registered users per total workforce (30%) is higher than the average for other Trusts across South Central (24%). Our work with Bucks PCT, following the migration of Map of Medicine to Athens authentication, has clearly shown benefits in the increased number of Athens registrations for this organisation which have been maintained over the year. Reasons for the reduction in Athens registrations within the acute Trust are unknown. It is particularly disappointing given that we have run a number of promotional activities to encourage registration. 2.6 Collection development The total number of new books added across all sites totalled 816. We have concentrated on replacing older editions of essential texts across all subject areas. Particular emphasis focused on updating stock covering general and community nursing, orthopaedics, surgery, general medicine and basic sciences. Selection of some of the 800+ new books added to stock We have continued our policy of improving access to our journal collection, particularly for Bucks PCT staff, by transferring from print to electronic subscriptions where possible. An extensive review of our journal collections was undertaken in November 2009 which considered usage rates, subscription price and journal ranking. The review resulted in the cancellation of 43 print journals and seven electronic journals. Approximately half of the print titles, including titles in the Current Opinion series, Chest, American Journal of Ophthalmology and Journal of Pediatrics were transferred to electronic subscriptions whilst others, such as British Journal of Neurosurgery, Diabetes and Primary Care, and Radiography were cancelled outright. Most of the electronic titles cancelled were transferred to alternative electronic subscriptions, or cancelled outright owing to poor usage figures and the released funds used to purchase alternative titles. The library service subscribed to MD Consult from January 2010. MD Consult provides electronic access to over 80 key journals, including the Clinics of North America series, plus over 50 medical reference textbooks. Library - 6 -
users can access these important resources from work or home, via their Athens account. This improves access for all staff and enables the library service to purchase fewer print copies of the textbooks. 2.7 OLIB Library Management System & SWIMS Implementation OLIB is the library management system that underpins the SWIMS (South and West Information Management Systems for NHS Libraries) network. Since migrating to the OLIB Library Management System in July 2007, we have continued to implement enhanced functionality to improve services for our readers. SWIMS membership provides many advantages for library users including: Access to a single catalogue of stock held within the South Central and South West Strategic Health Authorities Enhanced searching facilities and real-time status of items on loan Links to book cover images and table of contents details Online, self-renewal facility Simplified and quicker borrowing procedure Seamless borrowing from other SWIMS libraries using a single library card In August 2009 we introduced an automatic email service to readers reminding them to return or renew items they have on loan. This has proved very popular with our readers and has greatly reduced library staff administrative time in chasing and invoicing overdue items. Additional links were added to the catalogue records for electronic books and journals available through MD Consult. These links allow readers to move seamlessly to the content of these resources directly from the catalogue records. 3 ACTIVITY DATA 3.1 Library Membership A breakdown of active membership by employer and staff groups are shown in the charts below. Registrations of BHT staff, 2009-2010 Registrations of BPCT staff, 2009-2010 Admin & Management Consultants and Dentists Nurses, Midwives & Health Visitors Social Services Other Allied Health Junior Doctors Scientific & Technical Students Admin & Management GPs and Dentists Nurses, Midwives & Health Visitors Social Services Other Allied Health Junior Doctors Scientific & Technical Students - 7 -
Library staff registered a total of 632 new members during the period from April 2009-March 2010. Bucks PCT (BPCT) staff accounted for approximately 12% of library registrations whilst Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust (BHT) employees accounted for 88% of total members. 3.2 Use of Services 3.2.1 UpToDate UpToDate is an online resource providing regularly updated, evidence-based reviews to help staff answer clinical questions at the point of care. UpToDate, accessible only via the Trust intranet owing to licensing restrictions, is our most commonly used electronic resource (usage data for the year is shown below). Usage statistics show that UpToDate is used 2 to 6 times more frequently than NHS Evidence, our next most commonly used resource. Use of UpToDate, Apr 2009 - Feb 2010 1200 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb No. of Topics Accessed 3.2.2 E-Journals The Library Service has progressively moved to electronic provision of journals. This provides a number of advantages to library users, particularly our remote members working in the community or PCT, including the facility to access articles online from home or work without the need to visit the library sites. We currently purchase a further 14 titles in addition to those purchased at national and regional level. Diabetes Care and New England Journal of Medicine were the most popular of these online titles accessed by community staff. In the acute Trust, the New England Journal of Medicine, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery and British Journal of Surgery were the most popular of these extra online journals. Our subscription to MD Consult, begun in January 2010, has proved very popular. MD Consult is a collection of over 80 online journals and 50 key medical textbooks. More than 750 downloads were made from the collection in the first 3 months of use. The most common textbooks used were Nelson s Textbook of Pediatrics, Williams Textbook of Endocrinology and Yanoff s Ophthalmology. Various titles from the Clinics of North America series were the most commonly accessed journals from the collection. - 8 -
3.2.3 Issues (book and journal loans) During the period from April 2009-March 2010, a total of 6020 items were borrowed or renewed, a decrease of 11% over the previous year. The Staff Library showed over 75% reduction in loans compared to the previous year whilst overall loans at the other library sites increased slightly over the year compared to the previous year. The majority of issues or renewals were made by BHT staff (86%). Bucks PCT staff were the next largest staff group (3.7%), followed by staff of OBMH (1.4%). Loans of items to other NHS libraries accounted for 8.6% of all loans. 3.2.4 Document Supply and Inter-library loans (ILLs) During 2009/10, the Trust Library Service requested 1,549 items from other libraries on behalf of our registered users. This included 368 book requests and 1,181 requests for photocopies of articles. The majority (76%) of book loan requests were filled by other NHS library services within the SWIMS network and the remainder borrowed from the British Library. Over half (55%) the article requests were supplied by libraries within the SWIMS network and 43% supplied by the British Library. We lent 477 books, an increase of 18% over last year, and supplied 438 photocopies of articles to other libraries during the same period, an increase of 24% over the previous year. 3.2.5 Current Awareness Services The Trust Library Service provides links via the library web site to a number of Current Awareness bulletins to help library users keep abreast of key developments in specific areas of interest. Topics covered include primary care commissioning, public health, health service management and general practice. The Health Parliamentary Bulletin, an online journal, is circulated weekly to 30 Bucks PCT staff and other staff within BHT. The Public Health Update, an online bulletin produced each fortnight by library staff, is circulated to 68 PCT staff across Buckinghamshire. Next year we will investigate new technologies, such as RSS feeds from journals and database publishers, and CASH, the Current Awareness Service for Health to facilitate delivery of our current awareness services. We plan to introduce new current awareness services incorporating these advancements in the early autumn. 3.3 Literature Searches/Enquiries 3.3.1 Literature Searches During the year, library staff conducted 80 literature searches on behalf of library users (mediated searches) which is an increase of 78% over the previous year. Over 30% of searches were conducted on behalf of Bucks PCT staff and the remainder for staff of the acute Trust. - 9 -
The mediated searches covered a wide subject range from clinical care to health care management decisions. A sample of topics is given below: Methods and approaches to goal setting in the rehabilitation of stroke patients Skin management in spinal cord injured patients Long-term outcomes for patients with Chlamydia infections Is there any evidence that health scoring systems increase recognition of illness and reduce mortality and admission to critical care? Is Cotinine testing among pregnant women effective as a means to encourage smoking cessation? Perception of Alzheimer s patients on the progression of their condition Comparision of stroke rehabilitation delivered at home or in day hospital settings What effect does grapefruit juice have on the pharmacokinetics of simvastatin Evaluation studies of various statistical software packages Is ultrasound an effective method for diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy? Review of infectious rashes in pregnancy Is there any evidence that counting calories affects alcohol consumption? What is the efficacy and cost effectiveness of grass pollen immunotherapy? Information on vascular dementia for a patient and their family Results from the Library Impact Survey conducted last year showed that library users believed searches conducted by librarians were more comprehensive and provided a better quality search than those they conducted themselves. The appointment of a Clinical Outreach Librarian has meant that we have been able to meet the evident demand for mediated searches. Comments from library users demonstrate that this service is highly valued by staff and is important in helping them plan and deliver quality care to patients. Thank-you. This is very useful. Will be back in touch Hospital Consultant The results of these lit searches have influenced and will influence the outcome of this review and how rehab is commissioned in the future Consultant in Public Health Thanks very much. I couldn t have done this without your help Deputy Matron 3.3.2 Enquiries A survey of enquiries was conducted during a sample week in November 2009. During this time, library staff answered a total of 51 enquires categorised as Procedural/Directional and 66 Resource Related enquires. - 10 -
Procedural/directional enquiries include those about opening hours, renewals, library registration and the library catalogue. Resource related enquiries include those concerning assistance with computers or photocopiers, assisted searching, location of books and journals and subject enquiries. Enquiries during sample week by type Enquires during sample week by staff group 40 25 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 AMG STM WYC Procedural/Directional Resource Related 20 15 10 5 0 DOC NUR ALP MAN OTH AMG STM WYC Personal visitors to the libraries accounted for 78% of all enquiries whilst 16% were received by telephone. A breakdown of enquiries by staff group shows that doctors remain the main source of enquiries for the libraries at Stoke Mandeville (STM) and Wycombe (WYC), whilst allied health professionals accounted for most enquiries at Amersham (AMG). The number of enquiries from nursing staff at STM was almost twice the number received in the previous year. 3.4 Learning & Development Throughout the year the library team has: contributed to general Trust induction for all staff, junior doctor induction (table top events and e-learning module), induction for medical students and other students on placement (library quiz and treasure hunt) produced an online library induction module that is now part of the Trust s online mandatory induction programme for all staff provided facilities to support the Training and Development Team s E- Learning initiatives, eg child protection training, and supported staff in accessing these programmes provided search skills training and literature search services to develop staff information literacy skills and support best patient care introduced additional training sessions in critical appraisal and interpretation of health care statistics 3.5 Information Literacy Skills The Library Service provides regular information skills training sessions, via group or one-to-one sessions depending on user needs. Details of group sessions are included in the Trust s online Training Programme allowing users to book on sessions using the automated bookings system. Training sessions are offered at all hospital sites and delivered by the site librarians or clinical outreach librarian. A number of online training tutorials, including Searching the Internet, Critical Appraisal Skills and BMJ Learning modules, are also available via the library - 11 -
website, giving library users the flexibility to undertake training at a time and place convenient to them. Elaine, our clinical outreach librarian, oversees the library training programme in addition to facilitating library search skills and critical appraisal skills sessions. Since her appointment, Elaine has revamped our library skills training programme to include extra sessions and courses. Elaine in action during a training session at Wilfred Stokes Library Our standard information literacy skills sessions cover: Question formulation Introduction to National Library for Health Search 2.0 Searching UpToDate Searching the Cochrane Library Search techniques for other databases including Medline and CINAHL Finding and accessing full-text electronic journals Concentrated power training sessions focusing on question formulation, use of Search 2.0 and accessing full-text journals have been introduced for clinical staff with limited time. These have proved popular with allied health staff. Additional training sessions covering BMJ Learning modules and critical appraisal skills were introduced during the year and now form part of our regular training events. 3.6 Other Services 3.6.1 Physical Library Sites and Computer Facilities The physical library sites are used increasingly as a location for quiet work away from busy wards, access to computers for e-learning, and a means for hot-desking as staff are more often required to work across sites and away from their main base. Library sites are accessible 24 hours to library users with access cards. At 31 March 2009, 199 people were registered for out of hours access to the Chiltern Medical Library. Data on the number of card holders for the Wilfred Stokes Library was unavailable. - 12 -
3.6.2 Database development The library service established and maintains a database of publications written by Trust staff. We have customised Reference Manager software to record additional details about staff publications and the database is updated weekly using alerts from various bibliographic databases such as Medline and Embase. Quarterly reports are generated from the staff publications database on request for the R&D Office and Trust Management. Library staff continue to support the Pharmacy Formulary & Injectables and Cancer Care databases. 3.7 Marketing and Promotion of Library and Information Services Library services and resources were promoted via: the News page on the Library Services internet / intranet site regularly updated Library guides and factsheets for specific services, eg NHS Athens, e-journal resources, available in print and via the library website targeted emails to specific staff groups regular contributions to the Trust staff bulletin and other newsletters weekly library displays coinciding with NHS Evidence Knowledge Weeks visits to departments and study days at all sites displays on library notice boards stall at junior doctor induction events (4 days) online library induction module included in mandatory training interactive induction sessions for students on placement library staff email signature files advising of new services 4. FACILITIES 4.1 Chiltern Medical Library, Wycombe Hospital New editions of major textbooks in all subject areas were added to the collection and other book stock was updated. Malfunctioning computers were repaired and upgraded using computers transferred from the Staff Library, Amersham. 4.2 Staff Library, Amersham Hospital Opening hours had been extended and facilities had been improved and promoted to all Amersham departments. Despite these efforts, usage of the Staff Library during the year continued to decline to the point that it was no longer financially viable. A consultation paper on re-design of the library service was circulated in November 2009 and the Staff Library was closed permanently on 31 December 2009. A small number of journal titles and some of the books were transferred to our other library sites. The remaining stock was offered to other NHS libraries and stock not claimed was discarded. 4.3 Wilfred Stokes Library, Stoke Mandeville Hospital The library was re-fitted with new heating and air-conditioning units, greatly enhancing the work environment for library users. - 13 -
Additional computer desks and networked PCs for use by library users were installed in the main library reading room. This has increased the total number of computers available to library users at the Stoke Mandeville Hospital site from 5 to 12 and allows better use of library resources outside staffed hours. Our new computer facilities Extensive weeding of book and journal stock was carried out in January and February 2010 in order to ensure there was sufficient space to accommodate stock transferred from the library at Amersham. Over 300 out of date or superceded book titles were withdrawn. 5 Staffing 5.1 Library Establishment The Trust Library Service had 6.6 whole time equivalent (wte) posts during 2009/10 (staffing structure as at 31 March 2010 is shown in Appendix 4). Library Services Manager Clinical Outreach Librarian Site Librarians Senior Library Assistants 1 wte 1 wte 2 wte 2.6 wte We are also fortunate to have the continued support of a volunteer who assists with photocopying tasks one morning each week. 5.2 Staff Turnover Staff pressures have again proved difficult during the year. Maternity leave and post vacancies have meant we have been operating with an effective 20% to 30% reduction in staff throughout the year. Chiltern Medical Library Claire Coleman started maternity leave in November 2009. June Kendell reduced her hours from 3 to 2 days per week when she transferred in January from the Staff Library to the Chiltern Medical Library. Lindy Jost began work in April, initially working 2 days per week and increasing her hours to 3 days per week from January. Re-organisations of staff working patterns have enabled us to ensure the library is staffed during Claire s absence. Wilfred Stokes Library A second member of staff, Katie Neale, started maternity leave in September 2009. Elaine Watson was appointed to our new Clinical Outreach Librarian post in October 2009. The post of Site Librarian at Wilfred Stokes Library, previously held by Elaine, was vacant from October 2009 until February 2010 when we were very pleased to welcome Gill Rose. - 14 -
5.3 Staff Training and Development 5.3.1 Mandatory Training All library staff attended mandatory training as required by the Trust for health and safety, fire safety, equality and diversity, infection control, data protection and manual handling. All library staff also attended training in Conflict Resolution and the Trust s Service Standards and Ten Patient Promises. 5.3.2 Other training and development Library staff attending a number of external training courses including: CILIP e-newsletters, an introduction (Margaret Hamdi) Library Assistant s Study Day, Southampton (Lindy Jost) Oxford Brookes University Statistics course, Sept Dec (Elaine Watson) Understanding Online Users Study Day (Jennie Kelson & Elaine Watson) Margaret Hamdi also facilitated a workshop on e-newsletters at the regional library staff meeting in December. Lesley Martyn and Jennie Kelson facilitated an in-house training day for the senior library assistants. Topics covered included updates on library software and procedures, health & wellbeing, service standards and their application to the library service and copyright. 5.3.3 OLIB Library Management System In May, Claire Coleman completed both 2 day courses for OLIB system administrator training and OLIB report writing. Lesley Martyn, Gill Rose and Lindy Jost received training in the OLIB reader registration and circulation modules in March. 5.3.4 Participation in local/regional/national networks Jennie Kelson is the South Central SHA representative on the SHA Library Leads (SHALL) Consumer Health Information Group Jennie Kelson is a member of the Bucks County Group, which has representation from other NHS organisations in Buckinghamshire, local Higher Education and the Public Library service. Jennie Kelson, Elaine Watson and Claire Coleman are trained System Administrators for the SWIMS / OLIB Library Management System, providing support to colleagues within South Central and liaison with the supplier, OCLC. Claire Coleman is one of two Cataloguing Group representatives for South Central, providing support and training to colleagues in SWIMS cataloguing rules Elaine Watson, Gill Rose and Claire Coleman are active members of the regional groups, Journal Club (which facilitates critical appraisal skills) and Search Skills Group (which fosters advanced literature search techniques). Elaine Watson is a member of the South Central Outreach Librarian s Group - 15 -
Margaret Hamdi is the South Central representative on the Joint Interlending Document Delivery Group, which promotes and facilitates collaborative working between libraries across the south and west of England. Sue Stainthorpe, in collaboration with colleagues in Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Hampshire, produces the Public Health Update, a fortnightly current awareness bulletin emailed to library users. 6 Financial Report Funding for the Trust Library Services is derived from a number of sources with NESC contributing over half of the library budget. Other sources of funding include the acute Trust, Bucks PCT and an allocation from SIFT funding. Increasing journal subscription costs are an on-going problem, with annual publisher increases of 10% or more exacerbated by unfavourable exchange rates. To make better use of our funding, we cancelled a total of 43 print journal titles and 7 electronic titles. Many of these were converted to electronic access from other suppliers however it has still meant an overall cancellation of more than 20 titles. Database subscriptions, including those for UpToDate and MD Consult, were the primary non-staff expenditure this year, accounting for just over 40% of the non-staff budget, followed by journal subscriptions (33%). Our spending on essential book purchases increased from 13% last year to 18% of our nonstaff budget. Proposed restructuring within the NHS with additional financial pressures expected next year means that we will be examining all our activities closely to ensure that they provide value for money. This will include undertaking detailed costing of library processes and services, and evaluation of point-ofcare resources, including First Consult and UpToDate. 7 Conclusion Library services have been continually developed over the past year, to ensure that we maintain quality and services for the benefit of library users and the support of best patient care. This year we have exploited opportunities to take our services closer to our readers, through our outreach services and increased electronic provision of resources. Our achievements and the quality of the services that we provide are things about which we are justly proud. These could not have been done without the dedication and hard work of the library staff. The forthcoming year will bring increased financial pressures which will require substantial changes to the way in which we deliver services in order to meet our financial targets. We will continue to develop our services to ensure they comply with quality standards outlined in the LQAF. Further work will - 16 -
focus on our outreach activities, promotion and evaluation of electronic resources and the introduction of technologies to enhance services. We will approach these many challenges with enthusiasm and professionalism, whilst continuing to maintain the high standards that our customers know and expect. - 17 -
Appendix 1 Objectives and Key Deliverables 2009-2010 Objective Key Deliverables Completion Dates Inform all stakeholders Produce annual report, including July 2010 and library users of 2008/9 progress and objectives for 2010/11, and circulate to key staff. achievements Publish annual report on Library Support Trust staff to provide best clinical care and improve clinical outcomes for patients Ensure that library service meets all LQAF criteria deemed core and essential Update library services strategy in consultation with stakeholders and library users Support Trust s leadership programme Support e-learning initiatives and selfdirected learning Ensure that library environment is fit for purpose and complies with relevant quality standards of provision Ensure good financial management website Promote outreach services to community staff Promote services to commissioning and public health teams Increase use of electronic resources and Athens registrations Initiate trial of point-of-care resources and evaluate for potential purchase Produce at least 10 new library subject guides Submission of LQAF self-assessment Develop action plan to ensure library services are fully compliant for NSF Service Standards deemed Core and Essential criteria New library strategy written and approved by the Buckinghamshire Hospitals NHS Trust Board Prepare Library Subject Guide on Leadership and Healthcare Management to coincide with start of new Leadership training programme Liaise with Training and Development Dept to provide computer facilities for e- learning and self-directed learning opportunities Work with Estates Dept to ensure that library services are considered in any plans for redevelopment or relocation, ensuring that any such plans are appropriate for the diverse needs of library users and service provision Evaluate journal collection and point-of-care resources for value for money Undertake costing exercise, using NHS Costing Framework, to determine accurate costs for specific library services, with particular focus on mediated literature services Evaluate effectiveness of installing Ongoing Ongoing Ongoing Dec 2010 Mar 2011 Sep 2010 Nov 2010 Sep 2010 Aug 2010 Ongoing Mar 2011 Ongoing Oct 2010 Oct 2010-18 -
Contribute to whole system recovery within Buckinghamshire Improve the library users experience Library staff equipped with the skills to deliver appropriate information services in line with user needs self-issue terminals at the Wilfred Stokes Library. Contribute to pathway development to ensure these are evidence based Introduce enhanced current awareness services targeted to specific staff groups or specialties Library staff to take opportunities for further training in accordance with their personal development plans and where budget allows Ongoing Sep 2010 Ongoing - 19 -
Appendix 4 Trust Library Services Staffing Structure as at 31 March 2010 Kathy Gillman Assistant HR Director Jennie Kelson Library Services Manager 1 WTE Elaine Watson Clinical Outreach Librarian 1 WTE Gill Rose Site Librarian (STM) 1 WTE Claire Coleman Site Librarian (WYC) 0.6 WTE Lesley Martyn Site Librarian (WYC) 0.4 WTE Sue Stainthorpe Snr Library Assistant (STM) 0.8 WTE Margaret Hamdi Snr Library Assistant (WYC) 0.6 WTE Lindy Jost Snr Library Assistant (WYC) 0.6 WTE Katie Neale Snr Library Assistant (STM) 0.2 WTE June Kendell Snr Library Assistant (WYC) 0.4 WTE 20