Things in the library 9th April...

 I hope you all had time for some sort of break over Easter and were able to enjoy the warm days that we had before we returned to winter. Please note the library will be closed on Wed 14th April in the morning until 13:00. This is for staff training - sorry for any inconvenience

Things to read... 

The last book which we read in the Reading Group proved popular 'Once upon a River by Setterfield and our next is Midnight Library by Matt Haig. The next meeting will be via Microsoft teams on 5th May at 18:30. Please contact the library if you would like the joining link.

Somewhere out beyond the edge of the universe there is a library that contains an infinite number of books, each one the story of another reality. One tells the story of your life as it is, along with another book for the other life you could have lived if you had made a different choice at any point in your life. While we all wonder how our lives might have been, what if you had the chance to go to the library and see for yourself? Would any of these other lives truly be better?

In The Midnight Library, Matt Haig’s enchanting new novel, Nora Seed finds herself faced with this decision. Faced with the possibility of changing her life for a new one, following a different career, undoing old breakups, realizing her dreams of becoming a glaciologist; she must search within herself as she travels through the Midnight Library to decide what is truly fulfilling in life, and what makes it worth living in the first place.

Things statistical... 

We are often asked if the trust provides statistical help for research projects  - we have some books of course and the Research Dept are trying to arrange some more structured help - particularly advice before a project is started. However we do now have SSPS software installed on one computer in the library so if you know what you are doing and how to use this then you are welcome to contact the library to book a session to use it. We cannot currently offer any training.

Things about children's brain development... 

Sharing the Science (now known as Sharing the Brain Story) is a programme that aims to help professionals and families understand child brain development and how it can be affected by early adversity. The programme uses six metaphors to explain key aspects of early child development, the impact of adversity, and the factors that can lead to abuse and neglect.

The NSPCC evaluated a programme pilot conducted in Glasgow to understand professionals’ experiences of attending a Sharing the Science workshop and using the Sharing the Science metaphors in practice. They also conducted focus groups with parents, carers and young people to explore their responses to the Sharing the Science metaphors. The report and more information on 'Building a shared understanding of child brain development between professionals and families' can be found via the link.

Online training using Clinical Skills Net...

Various mandatory and other SCH training is now hosted by Clinical Skills Net. The library introduced this to the Trust and so helps with registration of users. We are however inundated unnecessarily with requests for help which don't actually need to come to us and also old information is still be circulated in some departments causing confusion. The flowchart below will help - please use this in your areas of work for Clinical Staff needing to access CSN. Thank you for your help.

Things about youth involvement in chronic illness... 

The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health,  have previously worked with young people in their podcasts, Commission, and cover art, but they recognise that they can do more. The message from  their young collaborators—that there should be “nothing about us without us”—is loud and clear. To ensure the work they do is meaningful and important to the next generation, they say they must include them as partners in research.

As a first step, they are creating a youth advisory panel as they relaunch their International Advisory Board. We are looking for five individuals aged 16–24 years from diverse backgrounds, who have lived experience of a chronic illness, a passion for health advocacy, or an interest in global child health and rights. The panel will contribute to the journal's content and advise on editorial priorities. They look forward to receiving applications before the 30th April. You may have current or former patients you know who would be interested in this opportunity.

Things to make... 

The news that HRH Prince Philip has passed away this morning came through whilst I was writing this blog. Although a divisive figure in some respects he was obviously a great support to HM Queen Elizabeth and gave many years service to the country. So with reference to his Greek roots I have chosen this recipe to make this week - a classic Moussaka.

Things in the library 2 March...

Things snowy...
We have remained open throughout the bad weather and have had several waifs and strays working here if they can't get to their normal workplace. We sell hot drinks and biscuits and provide a spectacular view across the snowy rooftops of Sheffield.

Things to discuss...
Reading group next week on Wednesday 7th March 17:15 in the library. Drinks and nibbles and discussing a book about Eyam.
Come and join us.

Things about statistics...
We are often asked for help with statistics (which we are unable to do) but we have just bought a new book 'Statistics at square two' which is a companion to 'Statistics at square one'. This book aims to help you to evaluate the many statistical methods in current use and is aimed at all those who need to understand statistics in clinical research papers and apply them in their own research.

Things about the NHS...
The King's Fund has published results and trends from the British Social Attitudes survey which  has asked members of the public about their views on, and feelings towards, the NHS and health and care issues generally. The latest survey was carried out between July and October 2017 and asked a nationally representative sample of 3,004 adults in England, Scotland and Wales about their satisfaction with the NHS overall, and 1,002 people about their satisfaction with individual NHS and social care services. They conclude that :
"looking at the 2017 data through that long-view lens reminds us that overall NHS satisfaction levels remain higher than they were in the 1990s and early-to-mid-2000s. Nevertheless, the statistically significant fall in satisfaction (and rise in dissatisfaction) in 2017 took net satisfaction to its lowest level since 2007. With an increase over the last few years in the proportion of survey respondents reporting lack of funding as a reason for their dissatisfaction, it seems the public is increasingly aware of the reality of funding pressures that the NHS has experienced over the last seven years. With equally small increases in funding planned over the next few years and NHS performance on key headline measures worsening, it is hard to see the public’s satisfaction with the NHS improving in the near future."

Things about kiwis...
A recent article in European Journal of Nutrition reviews the nutritional and health attributes of kiwifruit. The review includes a brief history of green and gold varieties of kiwifruit from an ornamental curiosity from China in the 19th century to a crop of international economic importance in the 21st century; comparative data on their nutritional composition, particularly the high and distinctive amount of vitamin C; and an update on the latest available scientific evidence from well-designed and executed human studies on the multiple beneficial physiological effects.
Of particular interest are the digestive benefits for healthy individuals as well as for those with constipation and other gastrointestinal disorders, including symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. The mechanisms of action behind the gastrointestinal effects, such as changes in faecal (stool) consistency, decrease in transit time and reduction of abdominal discomfort, relate to the water retention capacity of kiwifruit fibre, favourable changes in the human colonic microbial community and primary metabolites, as well as the naturally present proteolytic enzyme actinidin, which aids protein digestion both in the stomach and the small intestine. The effects of kiwifruit on metabolic markers of cardiovascular disease and diabetes are also investigated, including studies on glucose and insulin balance, bodyweight maintenance and energy homeostasis.

Things about blockchain...
Do you know your Bitcoin from your Ethereum...and the possible implications for this technology for healthcare? If not this article from the Emerging Technology Group at NHS HEE may help you understand.

Things about health services for children...
A framework to support challenged children and young people’s health services achieve a good or outstanding CQC rating has been published. This framework supports and enables senior children and young people’s nurses to achieve good and outstanding care standards for children and young people’s health services. It integrates policy guidance with the most frequent reasons the Care Quality Commission (CQC) gives for rating children’s services as ‘requiring improvement’ or ‘inadequate’ as identified in our review of CQC reports.

Things about fish...
In Pediatric Allergy and Immunology a study by a group in Sweden suggested that toddlers who eat fish at least once a month  or live on a farm are less likely to develop hay fever in later childhood.
Eating fish once a month or more at age 12 months reduced the risk of allergic rhinitis at 12 years (0.70, 0.50-0.98) as did living on a farm with farm animals at four years (0.51, 0.32-0.84). Continuous farm living from age 4 to 12 seemed to drive the association. They concluded that Allergic rhinitis affected more than 20% of 12-year-olds, but was lower in children who ate fish at 12 months or grew up with farm animals.

Things about oral health...
A report on  the oral health survey of 5-year-olds in Yorkshire and the Humber in 2015, as part of the National Dental Epidemiology Programme for England, has been published. Yorkshire and The Humber remains the second worst region in the country for the proportion of five-year-olds with experience of tooth decay. However, the results show a continued decrease in the proportion of children with tooth decay (prevalence) and a decrease in severity of decay (the number of teeth with decay) at a regional level and at a local authority level for most areas. More five-year-old children have had teeth removed (extracted) due to tooth decay in the Yorkshire and The Humber than any other region in England.

Things to eat...
This is a fabulously easy dessert which I have made several times...and of course it features kiwi fruit.

Things in the library 7th October...

Things about medicines for children...
NHS England has launched a 30 day public consultation on a clinical commissioning policy proposition for commissioning medicines in children.  There has already been extensive engagement on this national policy, it has been developed with the support and input of lead clinicians and patient and public representatives. This approach has helped ensure that the views of key stakeholders have informed and influenced the development of this policy to date. They now wish to test them further with wider groups of stakeholders.


Things about acute paediatric services...
The RCPCH is developing a set of service level measures designed to support acute paediatric services to monitor the effects of service change at a local level, and to facilitate quality improvement. They are doing this:

• To enable and support child health services to monitor the effect of service interventions at a local level.
• To provide a strong evidence base for the development and revision of service standards, such as the Facing the Future suite of standards.
• To identify and share examples of best practice, to aid the improvement of child health outcomes across the four UK nations

The future of the NHS?...

Good Governance (GGI) has published ‘The Future of the NHS’ that critically examines and provides some context to the direction in which the NHS is headed – consuming more and more public money to provide an increasingly worse service. With commentary from eminent colleagues including former secretaries of state for health, the publication Sir William Wells, presented his concerns at a seminar hosted by GGI in Westminster.

Things about TB...

Public health England have published their 2016 report (presenting data to end of 2015)

Mental health of Girls...

Girlguiding has published a report on the mental well-being of girls. Key findings include: girls of all ages face compounding pressures across all areas of their lives including sexist pressures; girls tend to dismiss or play down the issues they face and feel they should be able to cope alone. Recommendations include: all decision-makers need to listen to girls’ voices and engage them in the decisions that affect their lives; schools should take a zero-tolerance approach to sexual harassment; Personal, Social, Health and Economic Education (PSHE) should be a statutory entitlement for all young people.

Things about numbers...

"Numbers needed to mislead, meta-analysis and muddled thinking" a lecture  at ScHARR by Honorary Professor Stephen Senn FRSE on Wednesday 26 October 2016 at 17.15 - 18.00pm Lecture Theatre 4, The Diamond. 

Free - book tickets here  Professor Senn says "The ardent espousal by the evidence based medicine movement of numbers needed to treat (NNT) as a way of making difficult statistical concepts simple and concrete, has had the unintended consequence of sowing confusion. Many users, including many in the evidence based movement themselves, have interpreted these statistics as indicating what proportion of patients benefit from treatment. I shall explain this, with the example of a recent Cochrane Collaboration meta-analysis of paracetamol against placebo in trials of tension headache for which the plain language summary is plain wrong" 

Things about childhood obesity...

Public Health England outline their priority for reducing the proportion of overweight children leaving primary school in their Childhood Obesity Plan

Things about understanding sustainability and transformation plans ...

STPs are place-based, multi-year plans that are built around the needs of local areas and their populations, rather than the activities of individual organisations. In the NHS shared planning guidance 2015, NHS England asked every local health and care system in England to come together to create their own ambitious local STP to accelerate the aims of the Five Year Forward View, including addressing the funding gap, improving service quality and enhancing population health and wellbeing.

This briefing discusses the policy context, development to date, the timetable for further development and implementation, as well as the key messages from local political, commissioning and provider leaders on how the STP process could most helpfully develop in the coming months.

Something warm and comforting...

Seeing as the weather is feeling more nippy we thought this looks a nice weekend eat - Melting meatball macaroni....mmmm must be nearly lunchtime now!

Things in the library 13th May

Things about healthy childhood...
Published yesterday by Public Health England - 'Health matters: giving every child the best start in life' .This resource for health professionals and local authorities focuses on investing in early years services from pregnancy through to 2 years old.


Things about CAMHS...
The text of the speech given by Education and Childcare Minister Sam Gyimah at the end of April is published here 'Mental health pilots - where next?' about single point of contact pilots and the importance of early intervention in schools.



Things about statistics...
Don't be frightened...Sarah ran her Critical Appraisal course yesterday and had excellent feedback. Someone commented that they felt able to 'ask the questions they would have felt silly to ask before'.
The next course will be on 6 July 13:00 to 16:30. if you want to come along please book with  coursebookings@sch.nhs.uk - no prior knowledge is necessary.


Things about what you did yesterday...
If you are aware of the Mass Observation Unit that was set up during 1937, have ever read Nella Last's diaries or watched the much missed Victoria Wood's 'Housewife 49' based on them then you might like this.
"In 1937 Mass Observation called for people from all parts of the UK to record everything they did from when they woke up in the morning to when they went to sleep at night on 12th May. This was the day of George VI’s Coronation. The resulting diaries provide a wonderful glimpse into the everyday lives of people across Britain, and have become an invaluable resource for those researching countless aspects of the era.
May 12th 2016 is likely to be quite an ordinary day, but for those researching, the ‘ordinary’ can often provide extraordinary results.  The diaries will be held and used alongside the 1937 documents. We would be very grateful if you could document your May 12th for the future.
Please write as much as you can about what you do, who you meet, what you talk about, what you eat and drink, what you buy or sell, what you are working on, the places you visit, the people you meet, the things you read, see and hear around you, how you are feeling and of course what you yourself think."
So if you can still remember what you did yesterday then do consider taking part - very easy - follow this link for instructions...I've done mine!

Things new in the library...
One of the recent new books in the library - shelved at W62 (C)  is 'Clinical communication in medicine'. the publisher says it:
".. brings together the theories, models and evidence that underpin effective healthcare communication in one accessible volume. Endorsed and developed by members of the UK Council of Clinical Communication in Undergraduate Medical Education, it traces the subject to its primary disciplinary origins, looking at how it is practised, taught and learned today, as well as considering future directions.
Focusing on three key areas – the doctor-patient relationship, core components of clinical communication, and effective teaching and assessment – Clinical Communication in Medicine enhances the understanding of effective communication. It links theory to teaching, so principles and practice are clearly understood.
Clinical Communication in Medicine is a new and definitive guide for professionals involved in the education of medical undergraduate students and postgraduate trainees, as well as experienced and junior clinicians, researchers, teachers, students, and policy makers."

Things to drink...
With the warmer weather coming and going its difficult to get properly into the summer mood but keep this recipe for when you next want a long cooling non-alcoholic drink. Apple, elderflower & mint sparkle