Accreditation of Health Service Libraries
The LINC Health Panel has now produced its Accreditation Checklist and the companion Implementation Guide and Toolkit for libraries in NHS Trusts, details of which are given below.
LINC Health Panel Accreditation Working Group : Accreditation of Library and Information Services in the Health Sector: a checklist to support assessment LINC Health Panel, 1998
The Accreditation Checklist is endorsed by a number of important bodies in the healthcare information field, including the British Library, the Scottish, English and Welsh National Boards for Nursing Midwifery & Health Visiting, the Kings Fund, SCONUL and COPMED.
"Patients and their families place their trust in health professionals. They need to be assured that their treatment is up to date and effective and that it has been provided by those whose skills have kept pace with new thinking and new techniques" "Information needs to reach the right people and be acted on in the right way" (A First Class Service: quality in the new NHS, 1998)
The English Health Service Guideline (97)47 underlines the need for high quality library services to support quality health care. The principles are Access, Resources, Funding and Region wide co-operation.
These sentiments are fully endorsed and supported throughout the checklist and its use will make a substantial contribution towards their attainment.
The checklist is available from Marie Langseth, King's Fund, 11-13, Cavendish Square, London, W1 0AN and costs £15.70 per copy (10 copies or more £15 per copy). Send a cheque for the full amount made payable to LINC Health Panel. Also available with purchases of 10 or more copies is a disc version of the checklist statements. This would be particularly useful for assessors preparing reports based on the comments boxes. Discs will be sent out separately.
LINC Health Panel : Accreditation of Library and Information services in the Health Sector: Implementation Guide and Toolkit for libraries in NHS Trusts LINC Health Panel, 1998 ISBN 0-9534931-0-5
The 121 page Toolkit contains valuable background information to help Trust Librarians to prepare for accreditation as it covers business planning, staff appraisal, copyright, quality assurance, core lists and more. It is presented in an easy-to-use format and includes examples of good practice, outlines of business plans, and comprehensive bibliographies that refer you to further reading in key areas. Although it has been compiled with the needs of NHS Trust libraries in mind the toolkit will be a useful management tool for other libraries providing healthcare information. The Toolkit maps directly onto the sections of the Accreditation Checklist, so you can turn straight to the relevant information.
The Toolkit costs £20.90 including 90p postage and packing. Orders of 10 copies or over are post free i.e. £20.00 per copy. Send a cheque made payable to LINC Health Panel with your order to:- Christine Fowler, South & West Health Care Libraries Unit, Mail Point 16, South Academic Block, Southampton General Hospital, Southampton, HantsSO16 6YD Tel: (01703) 796542
Christine Fowler
c.a.fowler@soton.ac.uk