Embedding the Team Knowledge Officer role

within clinical teams via a pilot clinical

librarian service
Catherine Ebenezer
Durham CAMHS CPD meeting
West Park Hospital
29/06/2011

Clinical librarian projects: 1

Started in USA 1971Integrate health sciences library services and literature
searching expertise of health librarians into clinical
settings
Overcome time, cost and expertise barriers to adoption
of evidence-based practice
Enhance educational experience of students and junior
doctors
Enable librarian to gain a better understanding of the
patient care context of information needs

Clinical librarian projects: 2

Extensive professional literature, including
several systematic reviews:
Wagner and Byrd (2004)
Brettle et al. (2010)
Weightman and Williamson (2009)

Very few projects in mental health services:

Reid et al. (2008) Barnet PCT
Urquhart et al. (2007) North Wales
**Gorring et al. (2010) Birmingham & Solihull**

Clinical librarian: a definition

A clinical librarian seeks to provide

quality-assured information to health
professionals at the point of need to
support clinical decision making
(Hill, 2008)

Role of the clinical librarian

Attendance at clinical meetings
Attendance at / support for journal clubs
Undertaking literature searches
Evaluating information / critical appraisal /
clinical question answering
Facilitating clinical guideline development
Service promotion and outreach
User education and training

Models of clinical librarian service

Question and answer service

requests submitted to CL literature search results provided to user

Outreach

CL uses a range of means and methods of providing information to users

tries to engage them with library services

Question and answer service plus critical

appraisal

response to users enquiry contains a critically appraised summary of

results

Outreach plus critical appraisal and synthesis

Results of queries include a synthesised critical appraisal
(Brettle et al. 2010, p. 12)

Hill review
Hill, Peter (2008)
National Review of NHS Health Library Services
in England
. London: DH
Important high-level recommendations re:
Knowledge management within the NHS
NHS library and information services

Never officially endorsed by DH

Overtaken by Darzi- led to breakup of NLH
Impetus for many clinical librarian projects

Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO)

Advocated originally by Muir Gray (1998)
In every NHS organisation someone at board
level should be entrusted with the role of Chief
Knowledge Officer for that organisation.
Role: to provide leadership and oversight to
enable all NHS staff to access and apply the
best available evidence in supporting every
aspect of the clinical care of patients.
(Recommendation 11)

Team Knowledge Officer (TKO)

Every clinical or management team in the
NHS should identify someone in the
team as Team Knowledge Officer (or
equivalent). The Team Knowledge Officer
will have responsibility for ensuring the
effective input of evidence to enable the
team to function properly.
(Recommendation 14)

Role of the Team Knowledge Officer: 1

Supporting the team through:
ensuring the dissemination of externally and internally generated
evidence, research, information, and data
facilitating knowledge sharing
participating in horizon scanning by anticipating future service needs

Working in partnership with the Chief Knowledge

Officer by informing him/her about the teams issues in
managing knowledge
Identifying and participating in relevant networks
across the health community in order to make best use
of all available information resources

Role of the Team Knowledge Officer: 2

Has an enabling role in supporting excellence by
improving:
awareness of the evidence
access to the evidence

Identifies relevant colleagues for liaison within and

outside the organisation, e.g.

education and training

library and knowledge services
information departments
other providers of knowledge

Maintains an awareness of relevant developments in

health care e.g. within their speciality, within health
information / health informatics services

Role of the Team Knowledge Officer: 3

Clinical team is not defined

Nature of Team Knowledge Officer role is

unclear:
Hill a synonym for clinical librarian advocated
an expansion in the number of clinical librarians
serving the needs of a limited range of specialties
within acute trusts
NLH - an extra responsibility taken on by a clinician
within a team
Wrangling within directorate!

Gorring et al.
Four-month pilot project; librarian attended weekly
team meetings in two community MH teams to help
generate clinical questions
Senior medical or nursing lead was present to facilitate
discussion and clinical question formulation
A summary of the evidence on each topic was
presented the following week
Evaluation was conducted using a questionnaire
survey, focus groups and interviews

Gorring et al. reported benefits

Librarian built up clinical expertise clinical context provided
important background information
Consultant psychiatrists having an external person from a
different professional background attending team meetings was
beneficial contributions from librarian were unbiased,
unemotional and informed
All clinicians librarian input a useful training tool broadened
the knowledge base better understood the librarians potential
role in enhancing learning
Team member broke down barriers to visiting and using the
library
Substance misuse team - improved ability to formulate clinical
questions

Embedding the TKO role

Working with each team to develop an agreed Team
Knowledge Officer role to be adopted by one or more
of the members under the direction of the appropriate
clinical lead
Four services participating:
Durham CAMHS
Durham AHP
Durham LD (TBC)
Clinical psychology research structure Barry Speak

Deliverables
Enhanced information literacy among
clinicians within the participating services
leading to:
Better quality clinician information seeking
A detailed specification for the role of Team
Knowledge Officer which could in principle be
replicated across other services
Professional publications giving an account of
the project

Benefits
Improved skills in question formulation,
information seeking and critical appraisal on the
part of clinicians
Improved awareness of information resources

leading to:
Improved clinical effectiveness, patient safety
and patient service quality
An enhanced reputation for the trust for forward
thinking as an early adopter of the TKO role

Issues to consider
Evaluation methodologies? to be determined
Information needs analyses required in detail
for each participating service
Tie-in with Professor Joe Reillys work on
current awareness for the CEO
Possible scenario = a network of TKOs across
the trust facilitating research awareness,
supported by a (permanent) clinical librarian?

Questions??

Catherine Ebenezer
Library and Information Services Manager
catherine.ebenezer@tewv.nhs.uk
01642 838112
07920 545634
www.netvibes.com/tewv-lis#Home