NHS library users – walk-in users

1. NHS library users – walk-in users Christine Urquhart AberystwythUniversityfor JIBS workshop 20 May JIBS workshop 20 May

2. NHS-HE interface • Students on placement • Tension between HE desires to demonstrate quality of resource provision and need for preparation of students for working in the NHS • Relationship between student and placement supervisor • Students and access to HE resources on placement – beware assumptions? JIBS workshop 20 May

3. NHS use and usage • Password ‘sharing’ has been part of the culture • Convenient • Some peculiarities of access to resources, such as the specialised professional resources (e.g. for some pharmacists) • Single sign on may lessen password sharing practices, but the access still has to be managed. JIBS workshop 20 May

4. Who cares for NHS patients? • NHS staff in primary and acute Trusts • Clinical attachments (overseas doctors, also some primary care staff doing sessions in hospitals) • Independent sector staff – private healthcare agencies, voluntary sector • Special arrangements e.g. for prisons • Social care (local authority and voluntary sector) staff JIBS workshop 20 May

5. But also… • Cadets (secondary school pupils on work experience) • External tutors – responsible for teaching health students (cf the problem of FE college tutors teaching HE franchise students) – may be on honorary contracts, or retired members of staff • Long, long list…see NLH site for Athens information (pharmacy staff, opticians, dentists, MOD staff….) JIBS workshop 20 May

6. Athens registration in NHS • Not automatic for new staff • Profiling of usage could be more sophisticated • Training sessions often the impetus for registration • Further details in http://hdl.handle.net/2160/310 . Spink, S., Urquhart, C., Cox, A. & Higher Education Academy - Information and Computer Sciences Subject Centre. (2007). Procurement of electronic content across the UK National Health Service and Higher Education sectors. Report to JISC executive and LKDN executive JIBS workshop 20 May

7. NHS users • Walk in access via access accounts - • This includes patients and members of the Public but would exclude individuals seeking access for commercial use/research for profit JIBS workshop 20 May

8. NLH resources for patients • Most patients are directed first to the –For patients section of NLH - “For patients” searches the NHS Health Encyclopaedia and over 100 additional websites from charities, professional bodies and other reputable organisations. All of these have been quality checked by NHS Direct Online. • Plus Dipex, BBC Health, Hitting the Headlines, NHS Choices, Expert patients programme, Patient and public involvement programmes JIBS workshop 20 May

9. Walk-in access for the public • Cultural issues for NHS libraries • Patient Advice and Liaison Services normally the first port of call • Often the emphasis on filtering complaints and advising on improvements in service delivery • For patients – problems less in WHAT was done, but HOW and WHY –and the predominant form of contact from service users was found to be by telephone. • Mental health service users pose different problems JIBS workshop 20 May

10. Mediated walk-in access? • For many NHS libraries • Public access onsite very difficult • Mediated access for the public via PALS, patient support groups could be easier to manage? • Difficulty of profiling indirect use by the public JIBS workshop 20 May

11. Consortial agreements: identify users • Goal: To clarify the user groups by clinical/research staff or student categories, usage type and frequency, to assist in determining licensing conditions and pricing. • Scope: Should cover direct users accessing remotely (home), work/campus based, library-based (including training groups) and indirect users (resources provided through document delivery services provided by libraries), walk-in users, and (for independent libraries) membership categories. • Level: Local/regional/national • Actor: Library services • Primary actor: Library service (NHS) and Library service (HE) or their representatives (SHE, regional HE procurement) • Stakeholder: LKDN, NLH, JISC • Preconditions: All parties need to have data on the comparable usage categories relevant to their library service, data on physical access problems and opportunities (e.g. what percentage of staff using shared computers, roll-out of new systems), and information about lifetime of educational contracts. • Trigger/event: Should be based on annual statistics collection, reviews of usage • Success guarantees: Equitable access to resources for users, based on likely usage pattern. • Main success scenario: Categories of user data collated for each site involved, for both current and project future trends. • Extensions/risks: May need to negotiate separate arrangements for walk-in, or other special cases, or devise use case to deal with estimated demand if reliable trends for usage data not available, or user groups change (e.g. with shifts of educational contracts). The investment in IT infrastructure (and e.g. implementation of the Map of Medicine in some areas) may have an effect on user needs and patterns of usage.

12. Conclusions • Walk-in access • Walk-in temporary for the NHS family for immediate use (e.g. for training or immediate educational need) • Walk-in and mediated for patients and the public, via PALS, patient support groups etc. • Increasing open access may reduce needs for walk-in/temporary/mediated user licence but the range of resources still difficult to negotiate for the occasional user. JIBS workshop 20 May