Things in the Illingworth Library - July

Our New Temporary Home 

June 2023 was all about change in the Illingworth Library! 

The Library has been on the move: we are now in our new temporary home, on the first floor at 26 Northumberland Road (the Estates building). We are open from 9am – 4.30, Monday – Friday, with study spaces for 6-8 people. Laptops are available to use; please email or call to book a study space. This will be our home until the Helipad build is completed.

We will continue to provide all your Library services:  Literature searches, training (where you are, on Teams, or at at Northumberland Road), and supplying articles to support your work and learning. Our click and collect service enables you to borrow books; you can return items to Northumberland Road or to the book return box in the restaurant.

New Assistant Librarian

The other change is that I (Ruth Flagg-Abbey) have joined the Library as Assistant Librarian, following Jess's departure in April. I have started to settle in, and am enjoying being part of the Library team here. I am looking forward to meeting Sheffield Children's colleagues over the coming months. I will be publishing the monthly blog, hoping to keep the eclectic blend of information and interest. As a Librarian, I am always looking for new ways to access information. And old ways too, as you can see. 

Things in the news

Free sight tests in special schools

Sight tests carried out in special schools will be delivered free of charge, following this recent announcement from the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England. The scheme is due to start in 2024 to 2025 and should support around 165,000 pupils. Children in special schools are 28 times more likely to have serious eye problems than the general population and they experience more barriers to accessing eye services; this can only be good news.

Sharp rise in eating disorders: "The only thing we could control was what you ate and how you looked"

The BBC reports on a 'staggering rise' in the incidence of eating disorders among teenage girls between 2020 and 2022. During the pandemic, prolonged access to social media, more focus on body image and less face-to-face contact may have led to feelings of low self-esteem and psychological distress, particularly among adolescent girls, according to the study. Social media may also have exposed young people to content which increased the risk of developing an eating disorder.  

Caring for the carers

The King's Fund has published a report looking into the role of unpaid carers, with the  aim of finding ways to improve the support which they receive. The 2021 Census found that 4.7 million people are caring for another person, so this question touches many of us personally as well as professionally. 

Young people who have a long wait for a cancer diagnosis have a reduced quality of life

A report from The National Institute for Health and Care Research suggests that longer times to cancer diagnoses were associated with lower quality of life, anxiety, and depression among young people. These findings are part of the BRIGHTLIGHT cohort study of 830 young people aged 12 – 24 years which the researchers say was the first large study of the psychological and quality of life experiences of times to diagnosis among young people. 

Things to do in July in Sheffield

For garden and wildlife lovers

The Marvellous Meadows event on July 2nd 10.30am - 4 pm will give an inside view of the work of Green Estate, including tours of the Pictorial Meadows beds (booking essential). Green Estate recently received a King's Award for Sustainable Development, as reported here.

The Manor Lodge is also open and is well worth a visit, although maybe not to stay for the 14 years that Mary Queen of Scots spent in Sheffield (some of it in the Lodge) as an unwilling ‘guest’ of the Duke of Norfolk.  (Sundays, April – September 10am – 4pm). 

For the curious

'Sounds of the Stacks' in the University of Sheffield's Western Bank Library from 17th - 21st July is open to all and sounds intriguing: "This site-specific installation temporarily transforms Western Bank Library’s Level 2 into an interactive sound environment. You are invited to walk through the stacks and explore a collection of low-volume compositions made with sounds related to the building ranging from the quiet turning of pages and the rattling of book trolleys to recordings of fairground organs from The National Fairground and Circus Archive."

For music fans

Sheffield in July must mean that it's time for Sheffield's contribution to the music festival scene: Tramlines. If you get a bit misty-eyed about the good ol' days when Tramlines was free, then there are two whole days of free music at the People's Park in Heeley at Pax in the Park over the weekend of 21st - 23rd July. The lineup includes the Oughtibridge Brass Band and John Otway, so there's surely something for everyone! 

It's a Sheffield Thing

As I am a functional cook at best (to quote my oldest friend: 'Ruth, that's not really cooking; that's catering'), we have a new feature for the 'and finally' slot.

Like most newcomers to Sheffield (I've only been here for 17 years), I am constantly surprised by the wealth of small businesses in and around the city.  So I hope to highlight one of these every month, to spread the word about the joy of shopping locally. To start, what else but a bookshop? 

In the most unlovely of locations, on the ring-road in Shalesmoor is Kelham Island Books and Music. Don't be put off by its exterior which is '1970s awful': pop in for five minutes, you may well be there an hour later, browsing along its well-ordered shelves and finding a bargain copy of that natural history book you've been meaning to read for ages. 

Things in the library 25th June...

 Things back in the library... 

(C) Gill Kaye 2021

Me!  After a wonderful break in Cornwall and calling in on friends and relations along the way - with frequent lateral flow tests! It was wonderful to be welcomed to Cornwall by a fly past from the Red Arrows 30 mins after we had arrived...right over head...as this view from our chalet shows! 

Things about young people with cancer...

Teenage Cancer Trust has revealed recently that more than a third of young cancer patients who felt they needed it, have had no, or reduced access to a psychologist in the six months prior to being surveyed, due to inadequate access in parts of the UK. The ‘#NotOK: Filling the gaps in mental health support for young people with cancer’ report, published today to mark the launch of the charity’s #NotOK campaign, also highlights the frustrations of psychologists who feel like they are ‘firefighting’ due to the high demand on ‘limited resource’. 87% of psychologists surveyed think current national provisions for specialist psychological support for teenagers and young adults with cancer is insufficient to meet their specific needs. Teenage Cancer Trust warns that young cancer patients could face depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions well into their adult lives unless UK Governments provide protected funding for high quality support that is available from the point of diagnosis.

Things about fathers... 

The Fatherhood Institute published a report 'Lockdown Fathers: the untold story'.

Their recommendations include:

During lockdowns fathers in the UK almost doubled the time they had been spending on childcare, grew in confidence, learned new skills and built stronger relationships with their babies and children.

All children should benefit, in learning and love, from the support that time with a confident, well-supported dad can bring. As we build back from this pandemic, we owe it to them to make this happen.

Fathers want to keep contributing, but shift patterns dictated to them at the last minute, long commutes, and long and inflexible working hours can get in the way. 

Following on from this is their campaign ‘Time with Dad’ to preserve the ‘lockdown positives’ of fathers spending more time with their children and supporting their learning, development and education. They want the UK to build back from the pandemic in ways that take account of fathers’ importance – and the limits on their time. They are looking for employers, schools, dads, mums, anyone who shares their vision, and might be interested in helping them turn it into a reality.

Things about air quality... 

Ambient air pollution is produced by sources including traffic, coal-fired power plants, hydraulic fracturing, agricultural production, and forest fires. It consists of primary pollutants generated by combustion and secondary pollutants formed in the atmosphere from precursor gases. Air pollution causes and exacerbates climate change, and climate change worsens health effects of air pollution. Infants and children are uniquely sensitive to air pollution, because their organs are developing and they have higher air per body weight intake. Health effects linked to air pollution include not only exacerbations of respiratory diseases but also reduced lung function development and increased asthma incidence. Additional outcomes of concern include preterm birth, low birth weight, neurodevelopmental disorders, IQ loss, pediatric cancers, and increased risks for adult chronic diseases.  This policy (from the American Academy of Pediatrics and available to you with an NHS Athens login) reviews both short- and long-term health consequences of ambient air pollution, especially in relation to developmental exposures. 

Things about fever... 

In the press today is news that Emergency departments across the UK are seeing very high numbers of young children for this time of the year because of a rise in infections usually seen in the winter.  RCPCH, RECM and RCGP are issuing advice for parents and carers concerned about fever in their child. One emergency paediatrician described the situation as “winter in June”. The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) has heard from paediatric emergency medicine doctors around the country describing pressures on their emergency department (ED) from an increase in children being brought in with mild fever by anxious parents. Many parents have not seen fever in their child – particularly if they were born during lockdown – and are taking them to A&E rather than seeking help at pharmacies, their GP, NHS 111 or online.

Things about mental health... 

Children and young people will benefit from a cash injection to mental health services which includes addressing the increasing demand for the treatment of eating disorders. An extra £40 million has been allocated to address the COVID impact on children and young people’s mental health and enhance services across the country. One way the additional money will be spent is to support ensuring the right type of beds are in the right places, or that alternatives to admission are in place, supporting parts of the country that have more challenges in their range of bed capacity. Across the country £10 million capital funding is being used to provide extra beds at units which provide care for young people with the most complex needs, including eating disorders, as well as £1.5 million to ensure there are additional facilities for children under 13. This funding is on top of £79 million made available by the government to support children and young people’s mental health in the community, including via increased access to crisis and eating disorder services, and new mental health support teams being rolled out – by April 2023, there will be around 400 teams covering 35% of the country.

Things to visit... 

It is great to be able to visit galleries again so I am looking forward to seeing Sheffield-born John Hoyland, one of Britain’s leading abstract artists, in this new exhibition opening at the Millennium Gallery. John Hoyland is renowned for his bold use of colour and inventive forms. In a career spanning over 50 years, his tireless innovation pushed the boundaries of abstract painting and cemented his reputation as one of the most inventive British artists of the 20th century. To commemorate the 10th anniversary of his passing, John Hoyland: The Last Paintings brings together large-scale canvases, some of which have never been publicly displayed before, made during the last eight years of the artist’s life. Sat 3 Jul - Sun 10 Oct 2021 Millennium Gallery. 

Things fishy...

On our one venture into St Ives (predictably they had a COVID outbreak following the G7 summit) we ate in a wonderful little restaurant recommended on one of Rick Stein's programmes. All the fish we ate in Cornwall was wonderful, of course, so today my recipe is  Hake in a Chorizo, Tomato & Olive Sauce.

Things in the library 14 June...

Things about journal club...
The next journal club will be on Thursday 20 June  2019 8am to 9am, in the Education and Skills Centre, F Floor, Stephenson Wing.
Paper: Prescribing emergency oral steroids in asthma clinics (please email us for a copy of the paper)
Journal Club is open to all health professionals and is a fun, informal way of learning to criticise papers and gather evidence to change practice. At each meeting a speaker presents a critical appraisal of a research paper, using a recognised appraisal tool such as CASP. Group members then have an informal discussion to determine whether or not current practice should be altered in light of the presenter's finding. Muffins available.

Things about the book sale...
There are still some excellent older editions to be bought from our book sale. This is a link to the current up-dated list of what is available. If you have a library membership then we can send you items and charge to your account if you wish.




Things about making connections...
I spotted this item about the benefit of talking to strangers . On a similar theme
we are getting excellent feedback from our last Randomised Coffee Trial. It was 100% positive experience for those that responded to survey and managed to meet their partners.  Some quotes below

"It was a lovely experience especially as I am new to the trust. I want one every month!"

"Really enjoyed meeting my 3rd person on randomised coffee trial.  A great way to get to know things about folk you may pass in corridors, but not necessarily have opportunity to talk to.  Continues for me to be a positive experience!!"

"I found the experience very rewarding"

"I would not have been likely to have the same sort of supportive chat with this colleague in the absence of the RCT, but it was a very positive experience and boosted us both, I think."

"Really lovely experience 🙂"

"can I meet someone I don't know next time? "  [Sadly I don't know who you know - if you contact me I will see what I can do!]

"great way of networking"

"It was a great opportunity to meet a colleague and learn about their work.  I look forward to doing it again!  Thank you for organising."

Things about public health...
Many interventions that are delivered within public health services have little evidence of effect. Evaluating interventions that are being delivered as a part of usual practice offers opportunities to improve the evidence base of public health. However, such evaluation is challenging and requires the integration of research into system-wide practice. The Born in Bradford’s Better Start experimental birth cohort offers an opportunity to efficiently evaluate multiple complex community interventions to improve the health, wellbeing and development of children aged 0–3 years. Based on the learning from this programme, this paper offers a pragmatic and practical guide to researchers, public health commissioners and service providers to enable them to integrate research into their everyday practice, thus enabling relevant and robust evaluations within a complex and changing system.

Things about children's cancer services...
NHS England has launched a 60-day consultation to seek views on proposed changes to children's cancer services. These are used by children aged between 0 and 16. In some cases, and with the agreement of Teenage and Young Adult's Cancer Services, they may also treat teenagers up to the age of 18.
The aim of the service specifications is to improve the outcomes and experience of children and young people with cancer.
This consultation guide sets out:

• How care is currently provided.
• The proposed changes and reasons for these.
• How the proposed changes will be implemented.

The consultation will run from Wednesday 5 June until Sunday 4 August

Things about migration...

The fourth Migration Matters Festival starts today, running until Saturday 22 June to coincide with Refugee Week 2019. The festival will be headlined by the multi-talented Benjamin Zephaniah and The Revolutionary Minds, alongside the likes of Lowkey, Seyed Ali Jaberi Hamdel Ensemble, Wiyaala and Angelina Abel.

Things about Sure Start...
Sure Start has had a turbulent history. The programme was first introduced in 1999 as Sure Start Local Programmes, targeted at highly disadvantaged neighbourhoods. Five years later, the 10-Year Strategy for Childcare called for ‘a children’s centre in every community’, transforming the initiative into a universal service. At its peak in 2009–10, Sure Start accounted for £1.8 billion of public spending (in 2018–19 prices), about a third of overall spending on programmes for the under-5s. But in the decade since, the context has been one of funding cuts, consolidation and centre closures, with funding falling by two-thirds to £600 million in 2017–18.  In this report, The Institute of Fiscal Studies consider the overall impacts on health of the Sure Start programme as a whole between its inception in 1999 and its peak in the late 2000s. Their focus on health outcomes is motivated by the fact that, while Sure Start’s services were multifaceted and varied between centres and over time, one of its objectives was to improve children’s health.

Things to make...
With Father's day on Sunday I thought you might like to see some baked gifts that children can make (for anyone of course not just dads!) there is a nice selection here

Things in the library 4th Jan...

Happy New Year to you all

Things to attend...

Our excellent Critical Appraisal course is running again on Thurs 31st Jan from 9:00 - 13:00. No prior knowledge of the subject is required and you will learn the basics of how to critically read an article and judge its value in a small group. If you are interested please sign up for this training via the SCH intranet as soon as possible.

Things about screentime...

A study of the effects of screentime on children and young people (CYP) is in the news today. The systematic review it comes from concludes:

"There is considerable evidence that higher levels of screentime is associated with a variety of health harms for CYP, with evidence strongest for adiposity, unhealthy diet, depressive symptoms and quality of life. Evidence for impact on other health outcomes is largely weak or absent. We found no consistent evidence of health benefits from screentime. While evidence for a threshold to guide policy on CYP screentime exposure was very limited, there is weak evidence that small amounts of daily screen use is not harmful and may have some benefits.

These data broadly support policy action to limit screen use by CYP because of evidence of health harms across a broad range of domains of physical and mental health. We did not identify a threshold for safe screen use, although we note there was weak evidence for a threshold of 2 hours daily screentime for the associations with depressive symptoms and with HRQOL. We did not identify evidence supporting differential thresholds for younger children or adolescents.

Any potential limits on screentime must be considered in the light of a lack of understanding of the impact of the content or contexts of digital screen use. Given the rapid increase in screen use by CYP internationally over the past decade, particularly for new content areas such as social media, further research is urgently needed to understand the impact of the contexts and content of screen use on CYP health and well-being, particularly in relationship to mobile digital devices."

and also... 

The RCPCH issued guidance today on the health effects of screentime for children. The guide provides a summary of existing research on the health effects of screen time on children and young people. It outlines recommendations for health professionals and families on screen time use. Their primary recommendation is:

 "that families should negotiate screen time limits with their children based upon the needs of an individual child, the ways in which screens are used and the degree to which use of screens appears to displace (or not) physical and social activities and sleep. We would also adopt the expert recommendation that screens are avoided for an hour before the planned bedtime."

Things about refugees...
The World Health Organisation has recently published technical guidance on the health of refugee and migrant children. Policy considerations include an intersectoral approach to promote good health and well-being, particularly mental health, in migrant children that target risk factors at the individual, family and community levels. Particular emphasis is placed on how national/local governments have an important role in fostering or hindering living conditions for refugee and migrant children in the areas of housing, health care services and education.

Things about cancer...
The Healthcare Quality Improvement Policy produced a report in December 'Cancer in Children, Teens and Young Adults'. This report deliberately focuses on a sample of patients who were a high-risk group who died or who had an unexpected admission to intensive care. The rationale being that this is where care-planning, service provision and communication should excel. Any remediable factors in care for this group would benefit all children, teenagers and young adults receiving SACT( systemic anti-cancer therapy). The report can be downloaded from this page.

Things to read...

Our Reading group is next week (normally the first Wednesday of the month) I have enjoyed both our Christmas read choices and they are available to borrow from the library if you wish to read them. The meeting next week is at 17:15, drinks and nibbles provided and if one of your New Year resolutions was to read more do come and join us...it doesn't matter if you haven't read the book! Both books feature an American Northern Cardinal bird on the cover (despite one of the stories being set in Ukraine).

Things about Christmas trees...

If you didn't get chance to book a collection for your real Christmas Tree in aid of SCH charity then you can take it along to University of Sheffield Information Commons car park tomorrow  Sat 5th Jan from 8am to 3pm where it will be chipped and used on the campus as a mulch during the year.




Things to make...
Not to eat this week...we have all done a lot of eating recently...but some creative ideas for recycling your Christmas cards rather than putting them in your (probably) overfull blue bin.


Things coming soon...
After the success of our recent Randomised Coffee Trial will will be organising another one soon...

Things in the library 28 April...

Things about emergency care...
Quality Watch published a report this week 'Emergency hospital care for  children and young people'. This QualityWatch Focus On looks at children and young people’s use of hospitals, with particular reference to emergency admissions during the 10-year period from 2006/07 to 2015/16. They conclude:
" This report has shown that the previously growing pressures on emergency hospital care from
increasing use by children and young people continue but not at the same rate of increase as before. While the small selection of indicators we looked at suggest that emergency hospital care quality has been maintained, of potential concern is the increase in A&E attendances and emergency admissions in the last few years, coupled with worrying trends for specific conditions and age groups.
Hospital emergency care may be appropriate for many children and young people but there are also those who may, with appropriate support, be safely cared for outside an emergency care setting. This report has identified potential areaswhere improvements in care outside the hospital emergency care setting may lead to reductions in A&E attendances and emergency admissions. However, if there are insufficient resources and alternatives to the emergency hospital care setting or other weak links in the system, it may become difficult to reduce hospital emergency care activity and improve quality of care for children and young people."

Things about young people's health...
The Association for Young People’s Health (AYPH) works closely with policymakers, young people, practitioners and researchers to promote awareness about young people’s health needs. In this update 'Young People’s Health - where are we up to?' they set out the latest policy and practice debates, recent data on trends, and recommendations for ‘where next’. Their key messages are:

• Many trends in health behaviours and health outcomes for young people are going in a positive direction, but there are also some more worrying indicators. 
• We are particularly concerned about the implications of new substance use behaviours; relatively high rates of sexually transmitted infections; the lack of a reduction in obesity; helping young people manage long term conditions and warning signs that mental health problems may be increasing.
• Although it is important to raise the profile of particular health conditions, we argue that we need more effort now on cross-cutting themes in young people’s health
• These themes include the overlap between physical and mental health; promoting young people’s health in existing outcomes frameworks; understanding the role of adverse childhood experiences; promoting youth friendly health services; ensuring the most vulnerable young people have equal access to health services; and maximising the importance of the education setting for health promotion.

Things for us oldies...

You may have seen the media reporting that physical exercise is a promising intervention to prevent or delay cognitive decline in individuals aged 50 years and older...but if you want to read the actual review article you can find it here 'Exercise interventions for cognitive function in adults older than 50: a systematic review with meta-analysis'

Things about sexual abuse...

'Making Noise' film on YouTube puts the focus on children and young people’s voices for positive change after sexual abuse. It is a project produced by The International Centre, University of Bedfordshire, in collaboration with the NSPCC. The Office of the Children’s Commissioner commissioned the original report. Read the full report at https://www.beds.ac.uk/making-noise

Things about sugar...
The NHS is stepping up its campaign against obesity, diabetes and tooth decay by announcing that sugary drinks will be banned in hospital shops beginning from next year unless suppliers voluntarily take action to cut their sales over the next twelve months. WH Smith, Marks & Spencer, Greggs, the SUBWAY(r) brand, Medirest, ISS and the Royal Voluntary Service are the leading suppliers who have pledged to cut sales. Remaining retailers are now being urged to join them. By April 2018 hospitals must make further efforts, including:

• 60 per cent of confectionery and sweets stocked do not exceed 250 kcal, rising to 80 per cent of confectionery and sweets in 2018/19.
• 60 per cent of pre-packed sandwiches and other savoury pre-packed meals to contain 400 kcal or less per serving and do not exceed five grams of saturated fat per 100g, moving to 75 per cent in 2018/19.

Things about precision medicine...

Children with Cancer UK,  is providing £1.5m funding to advance Precision Medicine in the UK, and make this field of treatment a reality for children and young adults diagnosed with cancer. 

Not generally available on the NHS, the ambition is to get Precision Medicine off the ground in the UK so it can be adopted nationally, available for every young cancer patient who would otherwise face less effective, more toxic treatment. This includes:

• Improved treatments for high-risk cancers with extremely poor survival rates
• The reduction of the long-term adverse impact of aggressive treatments
• Better understanding of the causes of cancer in children and young people
• The integration of advanced genetic technologies directly into clinical practice

Precision Medicine is an emerging approach to disease treatment and prevention and takes into account individual variations in genes, environment and lifestyle. Precision therapies target specific changes in individual patients’ tumour DNA, allowing for more effective treatments while reducing toxic side effects. It has huge potential to improve cure rates and reduce the burden of toxicity on young cancer patients through better targeted chemotherapy, introducing advances in immunotherapy and using other evolving technologies.

Things about workplace well-being...
There is strong and growing evidence that work and health and wellbeing are closely and strongly linked and need to be addressed together. In June 2014, Public Health England (PHE) published a set of national standards for workplace health for the first time — the Workplace Wellbeing Charter which was developed with the charity Health@Work and Liverpool County Council and was based on their scheme and others from around the country.
This study 'Workplace Wellbeing CharterAnalysis of take-up and impact' investigates the take-up and impact of the WWC, maps available data on the number of organisations accredited with the Charter across England and provides insights into a diverse range of organisations that have invested in the well-being of staff in their workplaces.

Things about reading & refreshments...
The first meeting of our Reading Group will take place on Wednesday 3 May at 17:15 in the library for any SCH staff or parents of long-term patients - at this first meeting we will be choosing the books that we will be reading as we meet the first Wednesday of every month. Come along or contact us for further details.

Things to make...
Kate's choice this week 'Rhubarb & custard cake' which sounds easy and delicious.