NHS Fife Library Service

This case study is part of Health Librarians Add Value, a campaign run jointly by NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and CILIPS. It has been provided by Fay Crawford, Senior Research Advisor at NHS Fife. Read other case studies here.

The information needs of NHS staff are considerable. As a learning organisation the NHS requires its staff to be able to rapidly access the most up-to-date research to inform the delivery of effective health and care services. Regardless of whether individuals are conducting research themselves or are consumers of research produced by others, the ability to identify, locate and interpret research evidence to help address the clinical uncertainties encountered everyday in health care settings are key attributes of health care professionals in today’s NHS.

In NHS Fife, all staff can benefit from the expertise of a friendly and approachable team of librarians whose training, skills and experience of information science are second to none. They enable individuals from all parts of the health board to fully engage in learning, research and knowledge exchange activities that might otherwise be beyond their reach.

Our team of expert librarians work tirelessly with staff from all disciplines in the health board to help them comprehensively identify sources of health science information and data. NHS Fife health care professionals are then positioned to make highly competitive bids for research funding, win prestigious research fellowships, host internationally important studies locally, obtain higher degrees and publish articles in peer reviewed journals. Without the library service, evidence-based health care would not only be extremely hard for people working in the board to practice but would be almost impossible for the wider NHS to achieve.