Thursday 29 April 2010

NHS Evidence updates


Visited NHS Evidence recently? Then you might notice some changes. And if you haven't then take a look at www.evidence.nhs.uk

Some of the updates
** Search terms will also be checked against a medical dictionary for accuracy. Should a term be misspelled, you will be offered a suggestion for correct spelling
** Different word endings using * : for example surg* will find surgeon, surgery and surgical. Note that plural forms are automatically included in a search for a singular term
** On the Search Results page, the title of each result is linked to the full text article. Many articles also have a link called Read Summary which allows you to read an abstract before going to the full text.
** A neater 'Refine your search' interface
** Searches on medicines automatically bring up the option to refine your search using the BNF (British National Formulary). If you click on the BNF options, a drop down menu showing all the relevant sections appears.
** Register for My Evidence and you can manage your information: Saved Searches, Search Alerts, Saved Result Categories, and News Feeds. You can also edit Your Profile

To register for My Evidence click here

Monday 19 April 2010

Annual Evidence Update on childhood obesity

National Library for Public Health : 19 April 2010.

The National Library for Public Health has launched the 2010 Annual Evidence Update on childhood obesity, focusing on childhood obesity surveillance and preventative public health interventions. The Evidence Update includes a number of key policy documents and guest editorials written by experts, which provide a snapshot summary of preventative interventions for childhood obesity and international surveillance activities. Find out more at
http://www.library.nhs.uk/publichealth/ or http://bit.ly/d85AwF.

Tuesday 13 April 2010

King's Fund Health Priorities

The King's Fund's Health priorities for an incoming government sets out the three areas that they believe the new government should focus on. These are: responding to the financial challenge facing the NHS, improving the quality of health care, and promoting well-being and independence.

Wednesday 7 April 2010

UpToDate - new items

If you work in the hospital or come to use the library, you have online access to UpToDate from the front page of the Library Microsite.

These are some important updates:

in ENDOCRINOLOGY AND DIABETES MELLITUS
- Hemoglobin A1C for diagnosis of diabetes mellitus

in GASTROENTEROLOGY AND HEPATOLOGY
- Pentoxifylline for severe alcoholic hepatitis
- Treatment for primary sclerosing cholangitis

in INFECTIOUS DISEASES
- Preoperative skin antisepsis
- New guidelines for treatment of HIV infection

in ONCOLOGY
- Revised TNM staging criteria

in PEDIATRICS
- Newborn screening for Severe Combined Immunodeficiency (SCID)
- Blood pressure control in children with chronic kidney disease

in PULMONARY
- Chest radiography in ICU patients on mechanical ventilation

You can email yourself items or request the Library to do the same if you are having trouble accessing it







Thursday 1 April 2010

APRIL 2010

'April showers bring May flowers'.

We should be in for a very floral May, then!

Easter closed days



The library will be closed on Friday 2nd April and Monday 5th April. Happy Easter to all our library users!


Social care of the Elderly

The King's Fund have produced a new report called


A copy is available in the Library as well as online

Other interesting links
Social Care Reform Department of Health
Building the National Care System Government White Paper

The Cochrane Library is changing


The Cochrane Library has recently launched its new website. The Browse option has been made more intuitive and there is an editorial on the homepage which will change whenever a new issue is published. Specialist Collections will allow readers to identify linked Cochrane Reviews. In this issue, the Specialist Collections focus on influenza, 'Evidence Aid' (important topics after a major earthquake) and tuberculosis.
Future developments are set to follow. Check them out at http://www.thecochranelibrary.com/

If you would like a refresher in how to use the Cochrane Library, a new web tutorial has just been released which gives an introduction to the website. The slideshow for Part One is 7 minutes long and defines a systematic review and explains the various databases within the Cochrane Library. Part Two is 5 minutes long and gives you tips on advanced and MeSH searching. You will need to complete a short registration form first, before viewing the tutorials. Click here to start Part One: http://www.brainshark.com/wiley/cochrane1
or here for Part Two: http://www.brainshark.com/wiley/cochrane2

Annual Evidence Updates for April

Annual Evidence Updates (AEUs) consist of good quality evidence from research over a 12 month period, plus user-friendly summaries written by relevant experts, and links to guidelines, primary and secondary research. Here are the topics that will be published in April:

Cardiac rehabilitation

Cardiac rehabilitation is an important aspect of high quality care for patients who have had a heart attack or undergone cardiac surgery. Access to cardiac rehabilitation remains low, as highlighted through the National Audit, and NHS Improvement are leading a national priority project to help more patients to benefit.
From the 12th April, you will be able to see the AEU for Cardiac rehabiliation here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/cardiovascular/

Colorectal cancer

NHS Evidence – cancer is publishing its AEU on colorectal cancer on the 12 April. It will include a guest editorial by Alan Horgan (Consultant Colorectal Surgeon Nuffield Health, Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospital), as well as a list of the latest systematic reviews and guidance published about colorectal cancer since April 2009, patient information and the latest uncertainties about the effects of treatment in colorectal cancer (UK DUETs). You will be able to view it here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/cancer/

Pain

NHS Evidence - supportive and palliative care will publish their fourth AEU on pain in supportive and palliative care on 12th April. This year it will cover general pain management in both cancer and non-cancer chronic disease patients to allow clinicians and researchers to keep up to date on the rapid changes in this area. The AEU will be available here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/palliative/

Schizophrenia

The Schizophrenia AEU will cover the following areas:
* Epidemiology and pathology
* Incidence and prevalence
* UK treatment guidelines and international guidelines
* Risk factors
* Diagnosis
* Treatment including early intervention, antipsychotics (1st and 2nd generation, depot injections), complementary and alternative therapies, psychosocial interventions.
* Prognosis
* Populations and settings (children and adolescents, criminal behaviour, women, caregivers and workplace)
* Co-morbidity
* Dual diagnosis
* Health economics
* Health Service provision
It will be available from the 12th April at NHS Evidence - mental health: http://www.library.nhs.uk/mentalhealth/

Acupuncture

NHS Evidence - complementary and alternative medicine will present its fourth AEU on Acupuncture from 19 April. This update will include a comprehensive list of systematic reviews, meta-analyses and large-scale RCTs accompanied by an expert summary of the best-available evidence. After the 19th April, you'll be able to see the evidence at: http://www.library.nhs.uk/cam/

Obesity

The National Library for Public Health will launch the AEU on childhood obesity on the 19 April, focusing on childhood obesity surveillance and preventative public health interventions. The Update includes a number of key policy documents and guest editorials written by experts, which provide a snapshot of the preventative interventions for childhood obesity and international surveillance activities. Go to http://www.library.nhs.uk/publichealth/ to view the evidence from the 19th April.

Rheumatoid Arthritis

NHS Evidence - musculoskeletal have produced an AEU on Rheumatoid Arthritis, focusing on guidance and systematic reviews published before March 2010. As in recent years the majority of publications relate to various aspects of drug treatments. Although this constitutes a proportion of the clinical activity in relation to this disease, other important developments and various aspects of rheumatoid disease management also feature prominently in the update. Click on http://www.library.nhs.uk/musculoskeletal/ after the 26th April to see the Update.


Supporting people in later life

The purpose of this AEU from NHS Evidence - later life is to highlight important secondary research, guidelines and policy documents which will help health professionals to support older people who are experiencing challenges with independent living due to serious health problems. The focus is on material that falls outside the scope of subject-specific Annual Evidence Updates, such as mental health or cardiovascular disease. This means grappling with challenging search topics such as frailty, long-term conditions and complex morbidities as well as the different settings in which support can be provided for these patients. The Update will be available from the 26th April here: http://www.library.nhs.uk/laterlife/