Staffing

Last year we said goodbye to our full time library assistant, Laura Sharpe who after 3 years with theTrust has moved on to an HR undergraduate scheme.  We welcomed our new library assistant Susan Camp to the library team in October.

We will also be saying a sad farewell to our Community Outreach librarian Steve Collman at the end of March.  Steve has worked jointly at East Cheshire NHS Trust and Mid Cheshire NHS Foundation Trust for more than 8 years.  We wish him all the best for the future.

Funding

Thanks to a successful bid to HEE we have been able to create a ‘Quiet Room’ in the library.  This is in response to continual feedback about the library being too noisy for those needing quiet space to concentrate.

There has been a permanent transfer of budget to the library service from other services within our department that had funded some library resources.  We now have responsibility for purchasing all library resources.

How we have developed & improved

We have extended our non-print resources with the introduction of educational games, Lego Serious Play and VR headset and conference call kits all of which can be borrowed to support staff training and development.  We will be doing a promotional session of all these materials and more at a staff.

Our training programme has been revised and refreshed. We researched what courses were on offer in other Trusts and have revitalised our sessions, focusing more on introductory level sessions and introducing new courses for staff returning to study or new to research. Advanced sessions are still available.

Our Clinical Outreach librarian, Holly Cook, took the opportunity to present at a Grand Round on Systematic reviews.

Alison Thornley and Steve Collman have worked closely with the Head of OD & Transformation to support ongoing work across ‘Cheshire Place’.

We have purchased stock to support trust staff undertaking courses such as the MBA and Coaching. Additional material on system leadership and QI tools have also been bought to support system-wide change.  This has led to increase in library usage and staff engagement.

Sue Camp has taken ownership of our library book displays, linking them with National Health weeks/months or topics of interest within the Trust.

The library website has continued to be developed, with additional knowledge hubs for coaching, knowledge management, geriatrics and English language resources for medical staff.

We have implemented the MyCirqa app which allows trust staff to view and renew their library loans from their mobile phone or tablet.

We have purchased additional PCs to help with capacity, especially to support corporate induction.

Finally, we have a new pod coffee machine for library users, in addition to the ‘free’ tea/coffee that we offer.

Lynda Cotterill
Library & Knowledge Service Manager
East Cheshire NHS Trust