Easter & bank holiday opening

The Libraries will be closed on the following days:

• Friday the 22nd April
• Monday 25th April
• Friday the 29th April
• Monday 2nd of May

Access is available to registered users on a 24/7 basis as usual at the Berrywood and Richmond Libraries by swiping in using your library card.

On-line renewals now working

The problem we had with renewing items on-line via the library catalogue has now been resolved.
 

 You can now log into the catalogue using your library card number and PIN (if you don't have one contact us), check your current loans, renew items, update your account details and reserve items for later collection.

WELD – Working with Evidence about Learning Disabilities

The WELD blog aims to bring you the latest learning disabilities evidence that is published each week. They scan a wide variety of websites, databases and journals and select evidence that is relevant to health and social care professionals with an interest in learning disabilities.

The daily posts include summarised published evidence, policy guidance, reports and links to primary sources. The site is fully searchable and also offers RSS feeds of both entries and comments made by users.

You can find it at: http://www.weldblog.net/

New books

We have just posted our latest books list onto our web site. See a list of the new titles we have added to stock in the last month.

Remember, you can also help ensure we hold the right stock to support you by reviewing our books on approval collection which will be available until the  29th of April at the Berrywood and Richmond Libraries.

Antique Medical Book Prints, a photo by ninainflorida on Flickr.

Places still available on April training courses

There are still some places available on the Library Service training courses in April. Training is free to NHS staff and run at a variety of locations around the county. The links below will give you more information.

• An Introduction to Critical Appraisal 8th of April

• Basic Introduction to Health on the Web 19th of April

• Evidence for Health 11th and 15th of April

• Literature Searching Using the Databases 14th of April

And if you can't make our courses, we can always come to you. The Library Service can deliver our standard courses, more tailored workshops or shorter, specialised sessions at any location around the county. All we need is an NHS network connection and a suitable venue. Contact us for more information.

April is bowel cancer awareness month

To mark Bowel Cancer Awareness Month  charities such as Beating Bowel Cancer and Bowel Cancer UK  are running publicity campaigns, encouraging people across the UK to be aware of the signs and symptoms of bowel cancer and to act on their concerns, sooner rather than later. The Department of Health have also been running radio adverts.

Locally, NHS Northamptonshire have launched their Talk Sooner site aimed at encouraging everyone (espeically the over 50s) to consult their GP about specific symptoms, including those of bowel cancer.

For a basic guide to bowel cancer see the NHS Choices site which includes information on symptoms, treatments, prevention and patient experiences of having the disease.NHS Choices have also recently reported on the success of a recent trial in screening for bowel cancer. The Department of Health also produce a leaflet on the facts about bowel cancer screening.

 For the latest information and evidence on all types of cancer see the Cancer Specialist Collection at NHS Evidence.

Important changes to the C-Card Scheme

From the 1st of April the C-Card Scheme will no longer be administered by Health Promotion Resources.  For information about the scheme, supplies and training please contact:

Blaine Hawkins or Richard Shatford
Contraceptive Services
Ashwood Centre
St.Mary's Hospital
Kettering  NN15 7PW
Tel: 01536 493296/493229
Fax: 01536 494637
Email: CCard@nht.northants.nhs.uk
Mon - Fri 8.30 am - 4 pm.

Health Promotion is still currently supporting the Emergency Hormonal Contraception Pharmacy Scheme.

Government launches new public sector ICT strategy

The UK Government has launched a new IT strategy for the public sector which sets out a list of major changes to be implemented over the next 2 years.

Amongst other things the strategy sets out a move away from large scale solutions delivered by large suppliers to a greater number of smaller projects, to share and reuse IT solutions via a common infrastructure, an asset register and Applications Store, to enable interoperable by using common standards, and developing a quality assurance ‘kite mark’.

You can find the document on the Cabinet Office web site.

Practice Nurse Handbook by Gillian Hampson now available on-line

The Practice Nurse Handbook is now available on-line.

The Handbook covers all aspects of clinical practice, health promotion, and practice management, for nurses in general practice. It includes chapters on common medical conditions, screening tests, sexual health, mental health, chronic disease management, travel health, immunisations, and emergency situations. It addresses legal issues, changes in primary care, nurse prescribing and covers key issues in team working.

You can acccess the Handbook online via the 123Library site. Just click Athens login on the red tab at the top right of the page, and enter your Athens password, then click Read Now.

If you don't have an Athens account, NHS staff from Northamptonshire can register here. If  you have forgotten it you can reset the password here. Please contact us if you have any problems.

Problems with on-line book renewals

Since the upgrade of our system last week we have been having problems with renewing library books on-line.  For the moment please either call one of the Libraries (you can leave a message out of hours) or email us and we will renew them for you.
Our supplier is working on this problem and we hope to have a resolution shortly.

Access to electronic journals has been restored

The issue with access to electronic journals has now been resolved.

National problems with access to electronic journals

There is currently a problem with access to electronic journals, both from the healthcare databases and the My Journals service on NHS Evidence Health Information Resources site. OCLC who supply the system are currently working on the problem and hope to have normal service resumed shortly.