Ten years ago, the UK government outlined a strategy that aimed to ‘ensure that patients, carers and the public have the information necessary to make decisions about their own
treatment and care’ and suggested that the ‘NHS has a major responsibility to provide or enable access to relevant and reliable information’ (DH 1998). Given that one of the main
roles of an NHS Library is the provision of access and training to health information for NHS staff and that health librarians are skilled in accessing, using and to some extent understanding health care information, to some it may seem a logical step for NHS Libraries to be involved in the provision of health information to patients. This may not necessarily mean opening up the library to patients, but supporting other NHS staff to provide information to patients. However there are also issues about duplication, appropriateness and implementation that should be taken into consideration when examining the role of the NHS Library in providing information for patient care. This report describes a project that aimed to explore these issues by asking:
• What public sector based information services are currently provided to patients
and carers in the North West and by whom?
• What are the views of key stakeholders regarding:
o Whether NHS Libraries should provide information to patients and carers?
o Whether NHS Libraries could provide information to patients and carers?
o What type of services could be offered?
o What roles could NHS Libraries play?
• If NHS Libraries were to provide information to patients and carers, what would be needed to facilitate and/or support them?
By answering these research questions, the report aims to provide:
1. A ‘map’ of the provision of public sector based patient information services
in the North West
2. An overview of stakeholder views regarding the role of NHS Libraries in the provision of information to patient
