NHFT virtual book club - our next read is Circe

Following on from our reading of Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapedo, our next novel for the NHFT virtual book club will be Circe by Madeline Miller.

In the house of Helios, god of the sun and mightiest of the Titans, a daughter is born. But Circe is a strange child - not powerful, like her father, nor viciously alluring like her mother. Turning to the world of mortals for companionship, she discovers that she does possess power - the power of witchcraft, which can transform rivals into monsters and menace the gods themselves.

Drawing from Homer's Odyssey, Circe is epic of family rivalry, palace intrigue, love and loss, as well as a celebration of indomitable female strength in a man's world.

“Think a novel based on Greek mythology isn’t for you?  Just wait.  Miller’s spell builds slowly, but by the last page you’ll be in awe.  In prose of dreamlike simplicity, she reimagines the myth of Circe, the sun god’s unloved daughter who went on to invent witchcraft and enchant Homer’s Odysseus." People

The next meeting will be Thursday the 23rd of September at 7pm via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there.

NHFT virtual book club - our next read is Brother of the More Famous Jack

Following on from our reading of Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris, our next novel for the NHFT virtual book club will be Brother of the More Famous Jack by Barbara Trapedo.

Stylish, suburban Katherine is eighteen when she is propelled into the centre of Professor Jacob Goldman's rambling home and his large eccentric family. As his enchanting yet sharp-tongued wife Jane gives birth to her sixth child, Katherine meets the volatile, stroppy Jonathan and his older, more beautiful brother Roger, who wins her heart. First love quickly leads to heartbreak and sends her fleeing to Rome but, ten years on, she returns to find the Goldmans again.

The next meeting will be Thursday the 12th of August at 7pm via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there.

Uplifting resources for NHS staff

Heath Education England and the Reading Agency have crowd-sourced a selection of uplifting digital and print resources for NHS staff aimed at boosting your mood.

 The collection includes podcasts, websites, poems and apps.

You can find all the digital resources on the HEE web site.
 

As well as these digital resources, they have also supplied us with copies of 10 print books which we have added to our leisure reading collection.

• Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola
• The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesey
• Three Things About Elsie by Joanna Cannon
• Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• The Lido by Libby Page
• Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
• The Salt Path by Raynor Winn
• Calypso by David Sedaris
• The Lost Spells by Robert Macfarlane and Jackie Morris
• Happiness FM by Mary Dickins

You can find all the books from our leisure reading collection, both fiction and nonfiction, on our catalogue here.

We hope you enjoy them.

NHS knowledge and library services awareness week 14th - 18th June #KLSNAW

It's the first ever NHS knowledge and library services awareness week, designed to draw attention to all the work services like ours do to get evidence into practice from the board, to the bed-side, to support leaners and provide a place for everyone to get away from the busy ward or office environment (or even the car for community staff) and have space to think.

Taking the ‘heavy lifting’ out of bringing reliable, up to date evidence to healthcare, library teams free up the time of their colleagues. Knowledge specialists and librarians deliver the right information enabling multidisciplinary teams to make informed decisions at the right time, at the point of need. 

In practice, this means that knowledge services give frontline teams the gift of time to focus on patients and ultimately improve patient care and outcomes. Backed by evidence, all NHS staff can be more confident they are making the right decisions.

We will be tweeting about this all week. You can follow us @NHFTNHSLibrary or you can search for the hashtag #KLSNAW to see what is going on in the wider NHS library community.

NHFT virtual book club - our next read is Blackberry Wine

Following on from our reading of The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood, our next novel for the NHFT virtual book club will be Blackberry Wine by Joanne Harris.

Jay Mackintosh is trapped by memory in the old familiar landscape of his childhood, more enticing than the present, and to which he longs to return. A bottle of home-brewed wine left to him by a long vanished friend seems to provide both the key to an old mystery and a doorway into another world.

As the unusual properties of the strange brew takes effect, Jay escapes to a derelict farmhouse in the French village of Lansquenet, where a ghost from the past waits to confront him, and the reclusive Marise - haunted, lovely, and dangerous - hides a terrible secret behind her closed shutters. Between them, a mysterious chemistry. Or could it be magic? 

The next meeting will be Thursday the 8th of July at 7pm via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there.

Libraries closed for the Spring Bank Holiday, Monday 30th May

The libraries will be closed on Monday the 30th of May for the bank holiday. 

We reopen as normal on Tuesday the 31st.

We are working on restoring out of hours access and hope to have some news soon.

Apologies for any inconvenience. 

Web site: What drives health inequalities? Evidence hub

www.health.org.uk/evidence-hub

The What drives health inequalities? evidence hub brings together data and insight highlighting how the circumstances in which we live shape our opportunities for healthy lives. 

Provided by The Health Foundation, the site explores these social and economic circumstances. It brings together a wide range of data and insight to explore:

• why circumstances such as our housing, transport and work matter for health
• the trends and inequalities that need to be addressed to build a fairer, healthier society.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, and the wider governmental and societal response, have brought health inequalities into sharp focus. 

The evidence hub explores long-term trends in the factors that drive health inequalities. Much of the analysis uses large official data sources that have a significant time lag, meaning that they currently do not capture the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Each topic has a section exploring the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, using emerging evidence and research. As we update the evidence hub we will be introducing more analysis exploring the impact of COVID-19 on health inequalities. 

Oxford specialist handbooks now available online

The Library Service has purchased the complete collection of Oxford Specialist Handbooks online (84 titles in total).

https://pages.oup.com/hee

This popular series includes titles on:

• Addiction
• Anaesthesia
• Cardiology and heart disease
• Dementia
• End of life and palliative care
• Psychiatry and mental health
• Respiratory critical care
• Surgery
• ...and more

To access the collection go to https://pages.oup.com/hee and sign in with your OpenAthens account (if you don't have an OpenAthens account, NHFT and NGH staff and students can register online for one here).

Once you have logged in you will be able to see al the Specialist Handbooks, as well as other titles from OUP covering a wide range of healthcare related topics.

You can also find these, all our other eBooks, and our print books, on our catalogue.

Libraries closed Bank Holiday Monday 3rd of May

The libraries will be closed on Monday the 3rd of May for the bank holiday.

We reopen as normal on Tuesday the 4th.

We are working on restoring out of hours access and hope to have some news soon.

Apologies for any inconvenience. 

NHFT virtual book club - our next read is The Man on the Street

Following on from our reading of The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, our next novel for the NHFT virtual book club will be the multiple award winning crime thriller The Man on the Street by Trevor Wood.

"It started with a splash. Jimmy, a homeless veteran grappling with PTSD, did his best to pretend he hadn’t heard it – the sound of something heavy falling into the Tyne at the height of an argument between two men on the riverbank. Not his fight.

Then he sees the headline: GIRL IN MISSING DAD PLEA."

Our book club a very informal, with lively conversation, lots of laughs and doesn't always stay on topic. 

The next meeting will be Thursday the 27th of May at 7pm via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there.

The libraries are open!

Isebrook issue desk

We are very pleased to be able to say the libraries at Berrywood Hospital, Isebrook Hospital and Northampton General Hospital are now open again to visitors.

Our opening hours are:

• Berrywood Library 9.30 am – 5.00 pm, Monday – Friday
• Isebrook Library 9.30 - 12.30 and 1:00 - 5.00pm Monday - Friday
• Richmond Library 9.30 am – 5.00 pm, Monday – Friday

The later start is to allow library staff time to clean the study spaces and computer workstations. For the moment there will be no out of hours opening.

In line with trust policy you will need to wear a mask or face covering throughout your visit so you will have to leave the library to eat or drink.

We know that many of you have been wanting to use the study space the libraries provide and we thank you for your patience while we have done risk assessments and put in place the measures needed to keep you and the library staff safe. 

Self-issue

If you prefer to keep your time in the library to a minimum we are still providing our ‘Click and Collect’ service whereby you can request books (by phone, email or via our catalogue) and then arrange a time to collect them. All of our other services (journal articles, literature searches, training etc) can also be done remotely.

When you visit you will notice some changes we have had to make to the spaces to ensure social distancing and to keep everyone as safe as we can. We have screens up at all of our counters and brand new self-issue machines at the Berrywood and Richmond libraries.

Berrywood Library

 Access to the first floor where the library is situated is currently on door fob control. If you don’t have a fob for Berrywood Hospital then you will need to sign one out from Berrywood reception (library card/ID required and car/house keys left in exchange).

Isebrook Library

Because of the library’s proximity to Café Vie we will be leaving the outside door to the library closed but as long as the OPEN sign is showing (Mon-Fri, 9.30 – 12.30; 1.00 – 5.00) you can get in to use the library. Please note that the library will be closed for half an hour in the middle of the day to allow the librarian to have lunch.

Study spaces and computers

We have reduced the number of computers and study spaces available to maintain social distancing and ask you to clean down the space you have use before and after use. Clinell wipes are provided but shouldn’t be used on computer screens. 

We are testing a new set up for our PCs and you are advised to bring a USB stick with you if you wish to save any documents

Cleaning/PPE

Clinell wipes and hand sanitiser are provided at sanitising stations throughout the library.  Clinell wipes should not be used on computer screen, the photocopier touch screen or the self-issue machine. Clinical waste bins are provided for the disposal of wipes and used masks.

Books

You will be able to browse the shelves but any books that you touch and then don’t borrow should be placed on the trolley so that we can quarantine them for 3 days. We will also be quarantining any returned books but if you have reserved a book you will have the option to pick it up un-quarantined. NGH and Berrywood libraries have self-issue machines to make it easier for you to take books out.

If you have any questions about the reopening please contact us. We're really looking forward to seeing you...

NHFT virtual book club - our next read is The Midnight Library

Following on from our reading of The New Wilderness by  Diane Cook, our next novel for the NHFT virtual book club will be The Midnight Library by Matt Haig.

"Between life and death there is a library, and within that library, the shelves go on forever. Every book provides a chance to try another life you could have lived. To see how things would be if you had made other choices . . . Would you have done anything different, if you had the chance to undo your regrets?"

Our book club a very informal, with lively conversation, lots of laughs and doesn't always stay on topic. 

The next meeting will be Thursday the 22nd of April at 7pm via MS Teams where we will be discussing the novel. You can find the link via the Events Calendar on the Staff Room.

Hope to see you there.