Withdrawal of funding for Library Services for primary care & commissioning staff

Following the closure of the PCT, the successor commissioning organisations have decided not to continue to fund the Library Service for staff in primary care/general practice, commissioning or public health, given the financial constraints they are under.   We understand this decision has already been communicated to commissioning staff, and it was approved by the LMC on behalf of GP Practices.

Given the decision to cease funding the service, sadly we are unable to continue to provide it at no cost.

The service will cease to be available for new requests from the 1st of October.  GP or Commissioning staff who have items on loan from us will be able to keep them until the due date (even if this is after the 1st of October). Likewise we will honour any requests for information or training already received, but will not be able to take on new work after the end of this month.

We will also be withdrawing access to all locally funded electronic resources that we previously provided via Athens. GP and Commissioning staff will still be able to access some material (including databases) through the national core content list which is purchased for all NHS staff in England, but the majority of resources will no longer be available after the service is withdrawn.

If you have any queries about, or wish to discuss this decision, please contact the LMC in the first instance (enquiries@northantslmc.co.uk).

NHS England in their CCG Bulletin on the 11th of July  stated that Libraries “are an integral part of the core business of the NHS” (see item 16), so we would be willing to discuss arrangements for individual organisations within the county who were interested in preserving access to the Library Service for their staff.