Knowledge for Healthcare is Health Education England’s new strategic development framework for NHS library and knowledge services in England. It sets out HEE’s commitment to helping ensure that all staff and learners, patients and the public can access and use the best knowledge and evidence available for learning, research, innovation and clinical and  organisational decision-making in healthcare, wherever and whenever they need it.

Knowledge for Healthcare explains the pivotal role of healthcare library and knowledge services (LKS) in delivering this ambitious vision, and highlights the high degree of collaborative working that already takes place between NHS-funded library services, within and across LETBs.

It emphasises that there is much more to do, however, to reduce the gap between evidence and practice in healthcare, and ensure that all staff and learners have the means and the skills to access and use evidence.  These challenges clearly cannot be met by NHS library and knowledge services alone, or indeed by HEE in isolation: partnerships will be key to success.

The document outlines what we know about information seeking needs, behaviours and preferences in healthcare, and our understanding of existing barriers and future trends.  It identifies four key areas in which HEE, the LETBs and library knowledge services should focus their efforts to bring about improved access to knowledge, and invites partner organisations to engage with HEE to help realise the ambition.

Knowledge for Healthcare is a ‘call to arms’ for everyone who cares about ensuring that all those involved in the delivery of patient care, whether directly or indirectly, has access to best knowledge and evidence.

Links to the Knowledge for Healthcare Framework, and a short briefing summary, are available here: http://hee.nhs.uk/work-programmes/library-and-knowledge-services/.

For more information, to comment on the Framework, make suggestions or discuss how you can contribute, please contact:

Imrana Ghumra
Professional Advisor, Library & Knowledge Services
i.ghumra@nhs.net