Children who often visit A&E to be logged on national database

Children who often visit A&E to be logged on national database:

Plan to help doctors and nurses spot children suffering from abuse or neglect and avoid cases like that of Baby Peter. All children who visit hospital accident and emergency departments or have out-of-hours GP consultations will be logged in a national database, according to health services minister Dan Poulter.
Medical staff will be able to see if the children they treat are subject to a child protection plan or are being looked after, meaning they are already identified as being at risk. Doctors and nurses will also be able to check if a child has been a frequent visitor to A&E over a period of time – an indication of abuse or neglect.
Under the new system, when a child arrives and is logged in at an emergency department or urgent care centre, a flag will appear on the child's record if they are subject to a protection plan or are being looked after by the local authority. Guardian

New e-learning from the Royal College of Nursing

The RCN has launched two new e-learning modules available via the CPD Online Learning section of their web site.

Diabetes CPD at the RCN

Diabetes Essentials is designed to provide an overview of the core concepts of diabetes; diagnosis and current treatments and roles and responsibilities in regard to treating patients with diabetes.

HIV/AIDS - What You Need to Know provides some general guidance and up-to-date information, as well as a list of resources you can access, or direct others to, that provide more detailed information.

There are also a number of other CPD modules in the section:

• Dignity in health care
• First steps for health care assistants
• How trustworthy is your information?
• Making sense of patient safety
• NICE care - Preventing venous thromboembolism
• Sexual health for non-experts
• Supporting people's nutritional needs

No passwords are required and you do not have to be a member of the RCN to access the basic modules (although you will need to be to access other resources in the RCN's Learning Zone).

Eyes on Evidence - December

NHS Evidence

Eyes on Evidence is a free monthly e-bulletin from NHS Evidence which covers significant new evidence as it emerges, with an explanation about what it means for current practice.

The articles also contain hyperlinks to relevant articles, NHS Evidence and NICE guidance.
 
In this month's issue:

• Evaluating register-based chlamydia screening
• Bullying and self-harm in young adolescents
• Cranberry products for the prevention of urinary tract infections 
• Omega-3 fatty acids have no effect on cardiovascular outcomes in high-risk people with type 2 diabetes 

 There are also two Evidence Updates recently published:

• Evidence Update on lung cancer
• Evidence Update on peritoneal dialysis

To view the latest edition, browse the archive or subscribe by email, visit www.evidence.nhs.uk/about-us/publications

Library Christmas opening

We would like to wish you all a very merry Christmas and a peaceful and prosperous new year and we look forward to seeing you in 2013.
 

The Berrywood and Richmond Libraries will be open on the 27th, 28th and 31st of December as normal, and from Wednesday the 2nd of January.

24 hour access will be available as usual to registered members throughout the Christmas period.

Isebrook Hospital Library is open on Christmas Eve, but then will be closed over the Christmas period. It reopens on Wednesday the 2nd of January. Please contact one of the other libraries if you need help during this period.

New database of case histories launched

Documenting a patient's case history to inform physicians how the patient has been evaluated and the subsequent progression of his or her disease is arguably the oldest method of communicating medical evidence. Case reports typically include:

• Unreported or unusual side effects or adverse interactions involving medications
• Unexpected or unusual presentations of a disease
• New associations or variations in disease processes
• Presentations, diagnoses and/or management of new and emerging diseases
• An unexpected association between diseases or symptoms
• An unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient
• Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect
• Confirmatory or educational examples of any of the above types of case report

BioMed Central have launched the Cases Database that allows users to search peer-reviewed medical case reports from different sources (including the BMJ). The database is freely accessible, continously updated and currently contains over 11,600 cases from 100 different journals.

The database offers a straight forward search with the ability to filter by condition, symptom, intervention, patient demographics and more.The advance search option allows you to build your search strategy over multiple lines.

Key features of the database include:

•  Simple, semantically-enhanced and advanced search options
•  ‘My Cases Database’ – save searches and cases
•  Email alerts for new cases matching your interests
•  Download and export search results
•  Links to full text of case reports in peer-reviewed journals

Change to Athens Login on Science Direct

Science Direct is the journal platform from the publisher Elsevier which we use to access The Lancet.

Elsevier have made some changes to how you log in to the site using using an NHS Athens account.

To make it easier for all of our users, we have produced a guide on how to access The Lancet via Science Direct. It features lots of screen shots and step by step instructions.

Following your initial log in on the new platform, the process becomes much more simplified.

You can find the guide to accessing The Lancet (amongst other things) on the User Guides section of our web site.

Dr Foster Hospital Guide 2012

The Dr Foster 2012 Hospital Guide is now available, showing how all the acute trusts in England are rated.

Efficiency & Mortality scores for all acute trusts

 

Here are the reports on the trusts in Northamptonshire:

• Kettering General Hospital
• Northampton General Hospital
• BMI Three Shires (private)

You can read or download the whole report which covers the current state of the NHS, or just the My Hospital Guide Efficiency & Mortality 2012 

You can also search by trust, individual hospital or surgical procedure, and use your own postcode to identify organisations nearest to you.

Disruption to the library catalogue Wednesday the 5th & Thursday the 6th of December

Due to an essential software upgrade of our Library Management System, there will be disruption to our library catalogue starting late afternoon on Wednesday the 5th of December and lasting overnight into Thursday the 6th.

Computer Repair by Webiliz on Flickr

During this time there is likely to be limited or no access to the catalogue. Users (and library staff)  will be unable to search for, renew or reserve items until the upgrade is completed and we have undertaken some testing to ensure there are no problems.

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.

Updated guides to using the major e-resources now available

If you get stuck trying to access electronic journals, need to know how to use the Cochrane Library, wonder how to find management information on Emerald Management First, or need to look up a drug on the BNF for Children, we can help.

We have recently updated the majority of our user guides. They offer a simple, step-by-step help, including many screen shots, on how to use the major electronic information resources available to NHS staff. As well as searching the databases you'll also find guides on NHS Evidence, Social Care OnLine, and more.

If you would like a guide to a resource we don't currently feature, let us know. We may be able to develop one...

To access all our of guides, please see our web site.

The library catalogue will be down late afternoon and overnight on Tuesday the 27th of November

Computer Maintenance, by AliCPhotography on Flickr.

The server that runs our library catalogue has reached the end of its life and we are having to replace it.

The migration to the new server and software installation will take place on Tuesday the 27th of November.  The process will start late afternoon and continue overnight. The system should be back up and running for the morning of the 28th.

This means for the duration of the work the library catalogue will be unavailable and users will not be able to search for, reserve or renew items. 

We apologise for the inconvenience, but it is essential we change the server now to ensure future stability of the system.

Eyes on Evidence - November

NHS Evidence

Eyes on Evidence is a free monthly e-bulletin from NHS Evidence which covers significant new evidence as it emerges, with an explanation about what it means for current practice.

The articles also contain hyperlinks to relevant articles, NHS Evidence and NICE guidance.

In this month's issue:

• Long-term outcomes after prenatal exposure to chemotherapy
• Difference in blood pressure readings between arms
• A multidisciplinary approach to treating tinnitus
• Relative risk of self-monitoring warfarin therapy
• Accreditation News - At its September meeting the NICE Accreditation Advisory Committee accredited 2 guidance programmes

To view the latest edition, browse the archive or subscribe by email, visit www.evidence.nhs.uk/about-us/publications

E-learning resource for doctors: apprasial and revalidation

The London Deanery have recently launched a set of e-learning resources to support doctors in appraisal and revalidation.

They are freely available for all doctors including primary care, secondary care and mental health and those in private healthcare.

The resources are aimed at supporting both appraisees and appraisers by providing guidance, tips and useful information about the appraisal process. 

These online learning modules take about 45 - 60 minutes to complete and cover a range of key  topics helpful for both appraisees and appraisers:  Getting the most out of your appraisal Top tips on developing your PDP  Quality improvement activity for appraisal and revalidation  Challenge in appraisal Calibrating supporting information in medical appraisal Tips for appraisers The modules are hosted on the BMJ learning platform and any doctor is able to register for free access.
As well as e-learning modules there are a collection of several short bite sized films (3-4 minutes) covering a range of key topics, helpful for both appraisees and appraisers :  Introduction to appraisal and revalidation GMC Domains Managing challenging situations in appraisals Multi Source Feedback and Patient Satisfaction Questionnaires Reflection  Gathering Supporting Information