New HDAS training for UHL staff

Message for University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust staff from UHL Libraries & Information Services

Many of you will have used the Healthcare Databases which are provided to NHS staff by NICE. This service provided access to the main healthcare bibliographic databases and are our recommended way of searching databases like Medline, Embase, PsychInfo and British Nursing Index.

NICE have recently launched a new version of these databases. While all the same information is still available, the search page has been completely redesigned and some of the features work in a different way.

Help and support

Library: We are offering some times for people to come to the library and have a quick demonstration of the new database system. Times over the next 3 weeks are:

Monday 31^st October at 10am or 2pm: Library Training Room, Education Centre, Leicester General Hospital

Tuesday 1^st November at 10am or 2pm: Library Training Room, Education Centre, Glenfield Hospital

Wednesday 2^nd November at 10am or 2pm: Odames  Library Training Room, Victoria Building, LRI

Monday 7^th November at 10am or 2pm: Odames  Library Training Room, Victoria Building, LRI

Tuesday 8^th November at 10am or 2pm: Library Training Room, Education Centre, Glenfield Hospital

Wednesday 9^th November at 10am or 2pm: Library Training Room, Education Centre, Leicester General Hospital

Wednesday 16^th November at 10am or 2pm: Library Training Room, Education Centre, Glenfield Hospital

Thursday 17^th November at 10am or 2pm: Library Training Room, Education Centre, Leicester General Hospital

Friday 18^th November at 10am or 2pm: Odames  Library Training Room, Victoria Building, LRI

If you cannot make any of these session, and require assistance, or a demonstration, please book on our ‘Literature Searching’ training session, which covers this resource. Times and dates for these courses can be found here: www.uhl-library.nhs.uk/training. You can also come and ask us for advice or assistance. We’ll be happy to assist you however we can.

Quick guide: A quick guide to using the basic functions of the new search interface is attached. It is also available on our web site. This guide has been produced by NICE.

Video guide: NICE have also produced a series of short videos to assist users with using the new search resource. These videos are available on their YouTube channel:   www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRbwbc3dfXUO3IYIun-5ICK-Q059JXtgk

World Thrombosis Day

This was last week.  But the issue has not gone away, so blogging about it now is not too late!

Lots of names for aspects of the topic - venous thrombosis, venous thromboembolism, VTE, deep vein thrombosis, DVT, pulmonary embolism.   Searching NHS Choices for thrombosis links to resources about many of these, and each page links to information about causes and treatment, as well as information on trials and personal stories.

World Thrombosis Day itself has a page of resources.   This includes information about the the global burden, hospital associated VTE and about research into public awareness.   There are campaign materials, including a list of research articles for health professionals (although the Clinical Librarian Service would be pleased to conduct a specific search for you).   Under Campaign Materials there are also personal stories.

The International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis is involved in World Thrombosis Day, and it publishes the Journal of Thrombosis and Haemostasis (some content freely available, some needs a subscription).

Other resources include:

British Committee for Standards on Haematology - guidelines on thrombosis, accessible via the BCSH site but also through NICE Evidence Search, which will also help you locate guidelines from other organisations.

Using NICE Evidence Search will help you find NICE guidelines, but NICE's Pathway on venous thromboembolism gives an overview of NICE guidance and links to publications.

Clinical Knowledge Summaries includes deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, and DVT prevention for travellers.   All are written for primary care, so do not cover prevention or management in hospital.  

E-Learning for Health - Available now with your OpenAthens account

e-Learning for Health (e-LfH) is a Health Education England Programme in partnership with the NHS and relevant Professional Bodies providing high quality e-learning resources free of charge for the training of the NHS workforce across the UK.

Content is presented using various templates such as ‘real-life’ scenarios, case studies and ‘knowledge bites’.

You can access the resources here: http://portal.e-lfh.org.uk/OpenAthensDiscovery

Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS)

This week is SADS Awareness Week.   SADS is a heart condition, often hidden, which can claim the lives of young people and can affect people while taking part in sport or exercise.

SADS Awareness Week is an annual event and this year includes a Marvellous Medicine talk on responding to SADS, another about sudden cardiac death in sport, and a Friday Forum for UHL staff to raise awareness of SADS. 

For UHL colleagues, the intranet, InSite, has for more about SADS Awareness Week.

Joe Humphries, a local lad, tragically died at the age of 14 while jogging, with no prior symptoms, and the Joe Humphries Memorial Trust works to promote research and education.

For more information about SADS, try these:

• Patient.info's page for health professionals page about Sudden cardiac death.
  
• Information about British Heart Foundation’s research into SADS, with a link to a booklet for families who have lost a member to SADS.
  
• Cardiac Risk in the Young, a UK based support organisation.    and SADS UK.   CRYs booklets about the underlying causes of sudden cardiac death and information for families who have lost a member are here.
  
• SADS UK, another UK based support organisation.  Their information about the underlying cardiac conditions that can cause SADS is here.

The causes listed by SADS UK are:

• Arrhythmogenic Right Ventricle Dysplasia (ARVD)
• Brugada Syndrome
• Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT)
• Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM)
• Long QT Syndrome (LQT)
• Short QT Syndrome
• Wolff Parkinson White Syndrome (WPW)

Try a search of NHS Choices or NICE Evidence Search for a cause to find more.  If you work at UHL, the Clinical Librarian Service can search the literature for you.  Please contact us if we can help.

Fault affecting the BNF and BNFc apps

We have become aware of a fault affecting the British National Formulary and British National Formulary for Children apps on some Apple devices. Some content may be out of date. 

NICE’s advice is to uninstall the app and then reinstall it from the App Store, and we would strongly recommend you do this with both apps. 

Android devices and all web versions of the BNF are unaffected. 

If you have an NHS Athens username, you can use the BNF and BNFc apps.  For information about NHS Athens and about the apps, please contact any UHL Library or the Clinical Librarian Service.

Understanding Health Research - A tool for making sense of health studies

This resource created by Glasgow Uni with MRC support and helps with critical appraisal.

Understanding Health Research was supported by the population Health Sciences Research Network, funded by the MRC

Developing Understanding Health Research involved many different steps and input from a wide range of people involved in creating, communicating and using health research. Together, we identified the need for a resource for both lay and professional audiences in the form of an interactive, web-based tool that does not require any prior scientific knowledge. The aims of the tool are to:
allow lay and professional audiences to understand how to assess the quality of research evidence
raise awareness of what evidence is and how it is generated
teach or reaffirm critical health literacy skills

The tool was developed iteratively through continuous testing and feedback with a variety of audiences. We aim to continue to refine and evolve Understanding Health Research to make it as useful as possible.

If you have any feedback on how to improve the Understanding Health Research tool, please contact us.

Source: http://www.understandinghealthresearch.org/