Services for local authority public health staff: UKHSA Knowledge and Library Services
This page details the Knowledge and Library Services (KLS) available to local authority public health staff.
UKHSA Knowledge and Library Services provide access to resources and professional library services to local authority public health staff (LAPH) based in county and unitary authorities in England.
UKHSA Knowledge and Evidence Specialists supporting local authorities in your region
All local authority public health teams have access to a regional UKHSA Knowledge and Evidence Specialist (KES), who can undertake literature searches and provide information skills training to you and your team. Select the name of the relevant Knowledge and Evidence Specialist from the table below to open an email.
| Region or role | Contact |
|---|---|
| North East, Yorkshire and Humber | Sarah.Catton@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| North West | Helen.Medley@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| East of England | Sophie.Pattison@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| East and West Midlands | Mary.West@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| London | Megan.Cox@ukhsa.gov.uk and Charlotte.Bruce@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| South West | Megan.Cox@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| South East | Charlotte.Bruce@ukhsa.gov.uk |
| Senior Knowledge and Evidence Manager: Local Authority Public Health | Patricia.M.Lacey@ukhsa.gov.uk |
Access to resources
Find out about resources available to you in Finding the evidence: Research support for public health teams based in Local Authorities.
Discovery search: use this to look for evidence provided by UKHSA, the NHS, and open access sources. It provides easy access to full text using the ‘Get PDF’, ‘Linked Full Text’, and ‘Access Item’ links.
BrowZine: to browse e-journals from different publishers.
An OpenAthens account is required to access these resources.
Local authority public health staff who are based within the public health directorate are eligible for an OpenAthens account.
You can register for an OpenAthens account here: NICE OpenAthens. When asked for your organisation name, type ’Public Health Staff in England’ and use your workplace email address when registering. You should then receive an email confirmation with a link to create your own password. This activates your account. If not received check your junk email; then contact libraries@kls.ukhsa.gov.uk for support.
NHS knowledge and library services support
Some local authorities have arrangements in place for their public health staff to use NHS knowledge and library services for literature searches, training and document supply. Find your local service to explore more or discuss options for arranging access.
NHS core content
In addition to UKHSA’s resources, you have access to journals and databases that the NHS subscribes to. Information can be found on the NHS website: What is bought nationally?
Expert literature searching and information retrieval
A literature search is a detailed, comprehensive and systematic search of the literature from a variety of quality sources about specific topics or conditions. We offer 2 types of output for your literature search results:
-
Bibliography - this is a simple list of the relevant results of a literature search, in chronological or author order.
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Themed bibliography - this is a list of the relevant results of a literature search that have been screened and categorised.
Information skills training
A range of information skills training is available, covering topics such as:
- introduction to the knowledge and evidence service
- using Discovery
- finding the evidence
- evaluating the evidence
Please contact your local Knowledge and Evidence Specialist to learn more about the training we can provide, or to arrange a training session for your team. Additionally, training may be available from local NHS library services for LAPH teams with a service level agreement (SLA) in place.
You may also wish to explore the eLearning for Healthcare (e-LfH), where you can view all available programmes. If you have not used e-LfH before, you will need to register for the system. Visit the Registration support page for further information.
Fortnightly update and search reshares
This fortnightly email update highlights recent search topics completed by UKHSA Knowledge and Library Services for LAPH teams. You can request copies of the searches by contacting your local KES to join the mailing list.
In addition, you can contact us to ask what work we have already done on a topic area. You can submit one enquiry at a time, based on work you are currently doing or planning to start soon.
Current awareness alerts
We provide current awareness alerts to help you stay up to date with research in a range of fields.
Contact us
For further information or queries, contact us.
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