“Click , click quick ” an electronic acute services current awareness service for the NHS Janet Harrison and Samuel Nikoi Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, UK.

The NHS in the UK The Patients Charter 1992 Clinical Governance 1998 The New NHS Modern and Dependable 1997

The NHS in the UK Evidence Based Medicine Continuous Professional Development Corporate Responsibility

Acute Services Current Awareness Service (ASCAS) ASCAS - Initiative to address Clinical Information Needs within Acute Trust. Launched August 2004, during UK National Health Libraries Week Web-based information service Multi-disciplinary Monitors over 150 key websites via RSS feed

Aims and Objectives of ASCAS Aim: To improve and enhance access to high quality resources for academic and NHS staff and students Objectives: Identify relevant content in consultation with health professionals Improve cross-institutional collaboration between NHS and HE Complement services provided in other subject disciplines

Aims and Objectives of ASCAS Facilitate independent access to information 24/7 Enhance role of information professionals in supporting the NHS workforce To promote the service via several websites

ASCAS Subject Coverage Health news New Reports and Guidelines New Research and Development Continuing Professional Development Medicine Surgery Women and Children Nursing Diagnostics and Allied Health

Study Objectives To determine the users of the service To establish the subject headings most popularly used To determine the motivation for the use of the service To assess the relevance and level of satisfaction of the service. To gain some insight about reasons for non-use of the service To determine areas of possible future improvement.

Research Methods Survey method First Strategy: Questionnaire delivered electronically Email sent out by P.A of the Chief Executive at Q.M.C Questionnaire cascaded down to other members of staff Second Strategy: Questionnaire emailed directly to known contacts Sampling method Random sampling Convenient sampling

Study Results Background of respondents Consultant Neurologist Head Occupational Therapist Consultant Surgeon  Head of Continuing Professional Development  Senior Nurse Consultant Physician

Study Results - Usage Service Usage

Study Results - Usage “I have logged on to the website once and had a quick look around, thought it was interesting”. “…It is a system for alerting people to have information that they may be interested in and may be relevant to what they do professionally”.

Problem accessing service Study Results - Access Non-Use Problem accessing service Unaware of Service No reason

Study Results Access “I don’t use it at the moment because I do not have a clear and an easy path to get to it”. There are computers on the wards, but we cannot use it for internet access, we really struggle I looked … thought it was not too useful to my role as a consultant”.

Study Results Alternative Sources of information for Non-Users 25 % Own Journal 18 % Consult colleagues 18 % Seminar, Workshop, Conference 12 % Subscription to alerting service 12 % Monitoring websites 9 % Academic and NHS library 6 % Email distribution list

Study Results – Other Sources “If I want to keep generally up-to-date I…go to meetings, national and international meetings in my own specialty area”. “Personally I only read the journals I subscribe to.” “If I’ve got a question…my first point of call for scientific medical literature would be PubMed” “Most…are members of national network and receive daily email alerts / news”.

Study Results – Future Expectations “I would like to see...on the ward rounds a laptop having access to patient’s record / the internet …we can’t get it to the patient bedside its ridiculous”. “On a personal level …what would be nice, is in three months later a problem arises …and for me to be able to interrogate the last six months alert”. “There is something about going to a single point of reference and being able to work your way through”.

…and finally Recommendations Optimum balance between generalist and specialist Develop clinical information champions Website visibility through marketing and promotion Develop guidelines for up-dating website Archiving Policy Expand search functionality Establish multiple access points Address the question of cross-institutional access