Clinical evidence team

Our evidence search service is available to staff who need evidence-based information to support:

• patient care queries 
• service planning and development 
• audits 
• writing / updating guidelines 
• writing / updating patient information 
• writing / publications
• quality improvement
• research 
• teaching 
• presentations.

Searches are carried out by qualified librarians and results are emailed to you. 

To request a search, email us at mse.library@nhs.net or fill out the request form at https://forms.office.com/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=slTDN7CF9UeyIge0jXdO40qtb1B_G_pNrnNN5oaDEQVUQVNRS0VFU0FPRjIxNTMzSzUzWkM5UDFDRy4u.

You will need to provide as much detail as possible about your search:

• Suggested keywords – including synonyms and American terminology and spellings 
• The date range to be covered 
• The patient group (if relevant) eg adults, children, outpatients, critical care etc 
• The reason for the search eg for patient care, for research, writing a guideline etc.

We will contact you to discuss your search further if necessary.

We usually ask for at least seven working days to complete a search, though often searches are completed quicker. Searches for immediate patient care are always prioritised. Please inform us if you have a particular deadline to meet.

This service is not available to students, but we are happy to support you in undertaking your own search. If you would like training on how to search healthcare databases yourself then please email us at mse.library@nhs.net or see below details of training offered.

Searches for systematic reviews

If your search request is for a systematic review please read our systematic review offer at https://mse-nhs.pagetiger.com/cjmrszq/systematic-review-support. 

Information Literacy is the ability to identify, locate, evaluate, and effectively use information to solve problems or make decisions.

For those working in healthcare, this means developing skills to search for and use valid reliable evidence-based research to improve patient care, from the way we develop and manage services, to ensuring safety and equipping ourselves with up-to-date knowledge and skills.

Please read our Training Leaflet at https://mse-nhs.pagetiger.com/gpkthv/library-information-skills-training for our upcoming schedule, and to book your place, email us at mse.library@nhs.net. 

These sessions are delivered online through MS Teams. However, some courses can be tailored and run for individuals or teams/departments. 

List of current courses

• Clear communication: empowering patients in healthcare (health literacy)
• Critical appraisal of qualitative research
• Critical appraisal of a randomised controlled trial
• Finding the evidence
• Introduction to Harvard referencing
• Reflective writing
• Writing for publication.

Below are links to relevant courses run by other NHS Library services or by E-Learning for Healthcare, at https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes. All are freely available. 

From Barts Health Knowledge and Library Services

Critical Appraisal of an Randomised Controlled Trial using the CASP checklist — this is ten short videos taking you through each of the questions of the CASP RCT Checklist. Freely available.

You can watch this video on YouTube at  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLq0iYvuStLYOEqxqUbwf9x7TVCpS_2NWV.  

From E-Learning for Healthcare

Log in to https://www.e-lfh.org.ukwith your NHS Open Athens account and then use the search box to find the relevant module.

Literature Searching (LTS)

Three modules designed to develop literature searching skills.

• Introduction to Searching
• Where Do I Start Searching?
• How Do I Start to Develop a Search Strategy?

Critically appraising the evidence base

Eight modules taking you through critical appraisal of different types of research including  Systematic Reviews and Diagnostic/Screening Tests.

• Introduction to equity considerations in critical appraisal.
• Introduction to critical appraisal of randomised controlled trials.
• Introduction to interpreting results for critical appraisal​.
• Introduction to critical appraisal of systematic reviews.
• Introduction to critical appraisal of qualitative studies.
• Introduction to critical appraisal of diagnostic and screening tests.
• Introduction to critical appraisal tools.

Lincoln Memorial University

Pirates vs Ninjas: Understanding Boolean Operators — A short and engaging YouTube video from  Lincoln Memorial University which explains  how to use the combining words 'and, 'or' 'not' to create your search strategy.

You can watch this video on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrR7D58Onzw.