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NHS Evidence was a government-funded resource in the United Kingdom that supplied information, research, evidence and best practice guidance for health, social care and public health. It was archived in 2009 as part of NHS Evidence - National Library for Public Health, formerly a Specialist Library of the National Library for Health. [1] NHS Evidence Health Information Resources existed to support clinicians by providing access to the best possible knowledge and know-how available. [2] NHS Evidence was a service provided by the UK National Institute for Healthcare Excellence (NICE).
NHS Evidence was aimed at health and social care workers and designed to help students, specialists, clinicians, managers, commissioners, and health providers make better and quicker evidence-based decisions. The service was provided by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence since its foundation in April 2009 as part of Lord Darzi's strategy for the future of the NHS, High-Quality Care for All, [3] which identified a clear need for better access to information for NHS staff to deliver the highest quality care. Its budget in 2009 and 2010 was £19,433,000, which was raised to £24,438,000 in 2010 and 2011. [4]
NHS Evidence allowed users to search over 100 health and social care databases simultaneously, including The Cochrane Library, British National Formulary and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. It comprised an increasing number of 'specialist collections', covering a diversity of topics, from clinical areas such as 'Cancer' or 'Eyes and Vision' to issues relating to 'cross-cutting' topics relating to specific user groups, such as 'ethnicity' [5] with information about the particular healthcare needs of minority ethnic groups, and evidence about inequalities in health attributable to cultural, religious or 'racial' differences. [6] Other 'crosscutting' topics included 'later life' and child health, while more specialist collections relate to differing professional or management areas of health care, such as commissioning, screening, and complementary medicines.
Information available via NHS Evidence included clinical and public health guidance, government policy, patient information, drug information, systematic reviews, primary research and grey literature.
There were six 'lots', or categories of data available, defined by the NICE Framework: [7]
Lot number | Content type | Provider |
---|---|---|
1 | Print Journals | Swets; EBSCO. |
2 | Electronic Journals | Swets; EBSCO; Ovid; SAGE; BMJ PG; OUP. |
3 | Print Books | Blackwells; Tomlinsons; Dawson; Coutts; Waterstones. |
4 | Electronic Books | EBSCO; Ovid; OUP; Blackwell's; Dawson; Coutts, 123Doc. |
5 | Databases | EBSCO; Ovid; ProQuest; Pharmaceutical Press. |
6 | Aggregated Evidence Summaries | BMJ PG; EBSCO. |
NHS Evidence – Quality and Productivity helped the NHS identify efficiency savings that could be made while continuing to deliver high-quality care. The Department of Health's Quality and Productivity project was designed to help NHS organisations make the necessary savings without compromising the quality of care and services. NHS Evidence – Quality and Productivity was part of this initiative. It gave access to evidence on how to improve quality and productivity within the NHS, including examples of innovative local practices. Content covered the best available evidence, tools and techniques, measurement, case studies and policy on all aspects of innovation and improvement. NHS Evidence – Quality and Productivity, provided users with real examples of how staff are improving quality and productivity across the NHS. [8] [9]
Organisations achieving high standards in producing guidance could be identified on NHS Evidence by a seal of approval called an Accreditation Mark. An independent advisory committee takes decisions about which organisations are awarded the Accreditation Mark based on rigorous analysis and assessment. Organisations are awarded the Accreditation Mark for three years. Their performance is reviewed regularly. [10]
Eyes on Evidence was a free monthly e-bulletin newsletter by NICE which provided updates on major new evidence as it emerged with an explanation about what it meant for current practice. [11]
The Norwegian Electronic Health Library (Helsebiblioteket.no) is a similar public website for health professionals and students.
The British National Formulary (BNF) is a United Kingdom (UK) pharmaceutical reference book that contains a wide spectrum of information and advice on prescribing and pharmacology, along with specific facts and details about many medicines available on the UK National Health Service (NHS). Information within the BNF includes indication(s), contraindications, side effects, doses, legal classification, names and prices of available proprietary and generic formulations, and any other notable points. Though it is a national formulary, it nevertheless also includes entries for some medicines which are not available under the NHS, and must be prescribed and/or purchased privately. A symbol clearly denotes such drugs in their entry.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is an executive non-departmental public body, in England, of the Department of Health and Social Care, that publishes guidelines in four areas:
Clinical governance is a systematic approach to maintaining and improving the quality of patient care within the National Health Service (NHS) and private sector health care. Clinical governance became important in health care after the Bristol heart scandal in 1995, during which an anaesthetist, Dr Stephen Bolsin, exposed the high mortality rate for paediatric cardiac surgery at the Bristol Royal Infirmary. It was originally elaborated within the United Kingdom National Health Service (NHS), and its most widely cited formal definition describes it as:
A framework through which NHS organisations are accountable for continually improving the quality of their services and safeguarding high standards of care by creating an environment in which excellence in clinical care will flourish.
Clinical audit is a process that has been defined as a quality improvement process that seeks to improve patient care and outcomes through systematic review of care against explicit criteria and the implementation of change
A consultant pharmacist is a pharmacist who works as a consultant providing expert advice on clinical pharmacy, academic pharmacy or practice, public health pharmacy, industrial pharmacy, community pharmacy or practice, pharmaceutical analysis etc., regarding the safe use and production of medications or on the provision of pharmaceutical services to medical institutions, hospitals, universities, research institutions, medical practices and individual patients.
The Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF) is a system for the performance management and payment of general practitioners (GPs) in the National Health Service (NHS) in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It was introduced as part of a new general medical services (GMS) contract in April 2004, replacing various other fee arrangements.
A Patient Safety Organization (PSO) is a group, institution, or association that improves medical care by reducing medical errors. Common functions of patient safety organizations are data collection, analysis, reporting, education, funding, and advocacy. A PSO differs from a Federally designed Patient Safety Organization (PSO), which provides health care providers in the U.S. privilege and confidentiality protections for efforts to improve patient safety and the quality of patient care delivery
The Centre for Reviews and Dissemination (CRD) is a health services research centre based at the University of York, England. CRD was established in January 1994, and aims to provide research-based information for evidence-based medicine. CRD carries out systematic reviews and meta-analyses of healthcare interventions, and disseminates the results of research to decision-makers in the NHS.
The National electronic Library for Health (NeLH) was a digital library service provided by the NHS for healthcare professionals and the public between 1998 and 2006. It briefly became the National Library for Health and elements of it continue to this day as NHS Evidence, managed by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, and a range of services provided by Health Education England's Library and Knowledge Service Leads.
The Renal Association, now the UK Kidney Association (UKKA), is the second oldest nephrology society in the world. It is the leading professional body for the UK renal community, dedicated to improving lives by supporting all professionals in the delivery of kidney care and research. The UKKA has over 1,400 doctors, scientists and multi-professional team members.
Healthcare in England is mainly provided by the National Health Service (NHS), a public body that provides healthcare to all permanent residents in England, that is free at the point of use. The body is one of four forming the UK National Health Service as health is a devolved matter; there are differences with the provisions for healthcare elsewhere in the United Kingdom, and in England it is overseen by NHS England. Though the public system dominates healthcare provision in England, private health care and a wide variety of alternative and complementary treatments are available for those willing and able to pay.
The Healthcare Quality Improvement Partnership (HQIP) was established in April 2008 to promote improvement in health services, by increasing the impact that clinical audit has on healthcare quality in England and Wales and, in some cases other devolved nations. It is led by a consortium of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges, Royal College of Nursing and National Voices.
Local involvement networks (LINks) were launched by England's National Health Service in April 2008 following the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. They replaced the Commission for Patient and Public Involvement in Health (CPPIH) and patient and public involvement forums and existed in every local authority area with a responsibility for NHS health care and social services.
The National Collaborating Centre for Mental Health (NCCMH) is a collaboration between the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the Centre for Outcomes Research and Effectiveness at University College London (UCL). The NCCMH aims to promote the role of evidence synthesis in making informed judgments about healthcare policy. The NCCMH has a history of developing guidelines, conducting systematic reviews and developing implementation guidance for commissioners and service providers. Formed in 2001, on 1 April 2016 a new guideline development centre, the National Guideline Alliance, based at the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists took over the clinical guideline programme that had been run by NCCMH.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland (HIS) is the national healthcare improvement organisation for Scotland. It is a public body which is part of the Scottish National Health Service, created in April 2011.
The Cancer Drugs Fund (CDF) was introduced in England in 2011. It was established in order to provide a means by which National Health Service (NHS) patients in England could get cancer drugs rejected by National Institute for Health and Care Excellence because they were not cost effective. Its establishment was confirmed by the UK government's coalition agreement in 2010, and by the White Paper, Equity and excellence – Liberating the NHS.
Health Education England (HEE) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care. Its function is to provide national leadership and coordination for the education and training within the health and public health workforce within England. It has been operational since June 2012.
The British Sleep Society (BSS) was established in 1988 to support clinicians, researchers, nurses, technologists, scientists and students with an interest in sleep and sleep disorders. It acts as an umbrella organisation, with a number of roles and activities. The Society advises health services policy through submitting evidence for consideration by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE). It organises an influential scientific meeting each year dedicated to sleep disorders and sleep research and jointly hosts an annual international education course for sleep technologists and clinicians. The Society has charitable status, and operates throughout England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. It serves the media, fund raisers, commerce and concerned members of the public with support and advice.
Professor Alan J Sinclair is a clinical scientist and diabetes specialist from Newcastle-under-Lyme, England.
Indra Joshi is a British physician who is Director of Artificial Intelligence for NHSX and a founding ambassador of One HealthTech. She supports NHSx with digital health initiatives in the National Health Service in England. During the COVID-19 pandemic Joshi was appointed to the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE).