British Geriatrics Society

Implementing ‘Virtual Wards’ for older people with frailty

This report explores how ‘virtual wards’ are funded and implemented as well as the potential benefits, limitations, and scientific evidence to be taken into consideration when providing a safe, effective, and patient-centred alternative to hospital inpatient care for older people.

Library Bulletin

Serious Mental Illness

With thanks to our colleagues at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Trust, the latest edition of the Serious Mental Illness bulletin is now available to view.

You may need an Open Athens account to read some of the literature. For support setting up an account or help accessing any of the documents please contact; academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Library Bulletin

Depression

The current bulletin for Depression, produced by Merseycare NHS Foundation Trust, is now available to view and download.

For support accessing any of the articles within the bulletin please contact: academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk

Health and Social Care in England

Tackling the myths

Source: The King’s Fund

The health and care system is under intense pressure, with rising waiting times, persistent workforce shortages and patients struggling to access the care they need. As a result, patient and public satisfaction with services has dropped significantly, prompting debate and discussion about the future of health and care services. In the context of what can feel like a heated political and media discussion, the King’s Fund have taken five myths that sometimes feature in this debate and debunked them.

Read the article here.

Public Health

Current Awareness Updates

COVID-19 vaccines for autumn 2022: JCVI advice, 15 August 2022.
Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); 2022.
(Statement setting out the latest advice from the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) on COVID-19 vaccines for autumn 2022.)

NHS prescription charges in England.
House of Commons Library; 2022.
(The cost of an NHS prescription, who is entitled to free prescriptions and how to get help with prescription costs.)

Homeless hostel residents and staff struggle to access health and social care services.
The Mental Elf; 2022.
(In her debut blog, Ava Phillips summarises a paper that finds both people living in homeless hostels, and staff working there, feel marginalised and struggle to access the health and social care they need.)

As waiting lists grow for anxiety disorders, should we be turning to digital interventions?
The Mental Elf; 2022.
(Theo Kyriacou and Andie Ashdown explore a recent systematic review that brings together two decades of research, which suggests that digital health interventions for anxiety disorders may be a more effective alternative to inactive controls, such as waiting-list groups.)

No place for cheap alcohol: the potential value of minimum pricing for protecting lives.
World Health Organization (WHO); 2022.
(Pricing policies and taxation are among the most effective measures that policy-makers can use to address these harms, but they remain underutilized across the Region. This report reviews the status of implementation of minimum pricing globally, provides an overview of the most recent evidence behind the policy, addresses its main strengths and limitations and offers practical considerations for countries.)

Library Support

Literature Searching

Literature searching puts evidence based practice at the forefront of clinical practice- allowing you to find appropriate articles which could have a direct impact upon patients, service planning, clinical support, further research or simply to keep up to date with your area of expertise.

Evidence can support:

  • An audit
  • A care pathway
  • A guideline
  • Protocol development
  • Direct patient care
  • Service planning and decision making
  • Presentations/ training
  • Research
  • Systematic Reviews

Literature searching provides you with the information you need to find the types of articles that will help you with your clinical practice or research. It is a skill that can be developed and should be incorporated into daily practice.

The Library can support you with training on this topic – (either on a 1:1 basis or as a group) should you wish to develop your skills in this area. Please contact; katie.roper@lscft.nhs.uk to arrange a session.

We also provide literature searching as part of our service. Simply fill out the form below and send it back to academic.library@lscft.nhs.uk.

We kindly ask that you give us 10 working days to find the evidence for your request.

Community network

There is no community without people: the staffing challenges facing community health services and how we can address them

Source: NHS Providers

This briefing sets out the key workforce pressures facing community health providers, alongside suggested solutions and policy enablers to increase workforce capacity in the sector. The content has been directly informed by the views and experiences of community provider leaders.

For more information click here.