Evidence updates

Recommendations for continued care and support of people who are clinically extremely vulnerable
Royal College of Physicians (RCP); 2020.
(Statement from the Royal College of Physicians, Royal College of Emergency Medicine, Royal College of General Practitioners, Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, National Voices and specialist societies highlighting the challenges faced by both doctors and patients in identifying and reducing the risks associated with COVID-19 for the most clinically vulnerable people.)

Expanding the primary care workforce in 2020/21 .
NHS England & NHS Improvement; 2020.
(Actions for CCGs, PCNs and STPs resulting from People Plan and Third phase of NHS response to covid-19.)

Reintroduction of NHS continuing healthcare.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2020.
(Sets out how clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) will restart NHS continuing healthcare (CHC) assessment processes from 1 September 2020.Published 21 August 2020.)

Virtual training for midwives during a pandemic.
Abramson P. British Journal of Midwifery 2020;28(8):502–503.
(When a baby dies, it is a tragedy at any time but during the COVID-19 pandemic, bereaved families and the professionals supporting them have been faced with additional and often distressing challenges. Restrictions have made access to hospitals difficult for partners and other family members, while support services that would normally be provided for bereaved parents have been unavailable or severely limited.)

Ketamine as a mental health treatment: Are acute psychoactive effects associated with outcomes? A systematic review.
Grabski M. Behavioural Brain Research 2020;392:112629.
(The databases Medline, Embase and PsycInfo were searched. The studies reviewed displayed great variability in methodology and quality of reporting. The most commonly assessed effect was dissociation, measured by the CADSS. Our results suggest that the CADSS total is not consistently associated with antidepressant outcomes. Apart from this, the current literature is too limited to draw definite conclusions on an association between acute psychoactive effects and mental health outcomes.)


Top tips for telephone triage and video consulting

Resources to support your practice

Total triage is important to reduce avoidable footfall in practices and reduce the risk and spread of infection. How to establish a remote total triage model in GP using online consultations available here.

Support for telephone and video consulting, GP’s, dentists, mental heath patients and cancer patients can be accessed here.

Digital health and care conference

A virtual conference for the digital revolution

The Kings Fund are holding a virtual conference from Monday 2nd November to Thursday 5th November, which will bring together top experts from the NHS and other parts of the digital health system to discuss the lessons learned and next steps after the Covid-19 pandemic.

The conference, along with other topics, will include:

  • the role of leadership in a time of crisis
  • the role of digital solutions
  • how to engage with health care staff and prepare them for the digital work environment

To find out more and see the full programme click here.

This virtual conference will take place over four half-days from Monday 2 November. You can join the short, interactive sessions live or catch up later on demand.

Register before Sunday 20th September for early bird rates.

New team member

Hello from your new outreach librarian

Hello everyone,

I wanted to formally introduce myself. My name is Katie Roper and I am the newly appointed outreach librarian across Lancashire and South Cumbria. I have a background in education, and it was during my time teaching in Birmingham Children’s Hospital, I realised I wanted to work for the NHS rather than alongside it.. now here we are.

My role involves supporting all staff, students, and service users to effectively and efficiently use electronic resources to make decisions and judgements based on evidence based practice.

Struggling to find evidence in your field of work? Short of time to find your own evidence?  Contact the library service to aid you with a literature search. Training can also be provided to support your own professional development.

Need help keeping up to date with current information? Contact us for KnowledgeShare request forms or speak to a member of our team where alerts can be personalised to suit your needs.

Do you know where to find the latest clinical information?  Contact the library team to ensure you have access to a wide range of resources- including; Athens, BMJ, Anatomy. TV,  individual journals and e-books accessible at home and work.

We are here to support you throughout. Feel free to pop into the library for free tea and coffee, computer access, hotdesking spaces and relaxed meeting areas.

Looking forward to working collaboratively with you all. Please send any completed forms to: academic.library@lancashirecare.nhs.uk. Remember to subsribe to this blog, using the link on the top right of the page for daily updates, bulletins and current awareness updates. Alternatively, feel free to contact me with any questions, queries or support needs; katie.roper@lancashirecare.nhs.uk

Katie Roper

Health Literacy E-Learning

Health Education England and NHS Education for Scotland have produced joint e-learning on Health Literacy

This Health Literacy e-learning takes approximately 35 minutes to complete. It introduces the importance of health literacy and covers teach back, chunk and check, using simple language, using pictures and routinely offering help. The content relates to both clinical and non-clinical settings and may be used as a refresher for team members or as an introduction for colleagues who are interested in health literacy.

Register for the e-learning here

Virtual Training

Support for navigating mental health & wellbeing in response to COVID-19

The i-resilience report is a resilience tool available completely free to use. It includes a webinar from Professor Ivan Robertson, insight from Professor Sir Cary Cooper, a downloadable check-in tool to help you understand your pressure, and more. 

Register here.