Online medical journal access for NHS Wales

Informing Healthcare, the Welsh healthcare IT programme, has announced that it is making another 90 online peer-reviewed journals available through the NHS Wales online library, bringing the total number of publications staff can access to 200.

The addition is part of the programme’s Access to Knowledge (A2K) project. The new journals cover diverse topics such as nursing, midwifery and the allied health professions and include the Journal of the American Medical Association and the Journal of Advanced Nursing. The list of journals was decided by health librarians working on the A2K project and a national working group.

Mike Simmons, chair of the A2K project board, said that staff in Wales would find the extra resources useful. "Having access to up-to-date clinical information forms an important part of delivery of a modern healthcare service.

"In an increasingly IT-connected workforce, giving access to the evidence wherever and whenever people are working is an important goal. I am delighted to see how successful the A2K project has been in meeting this goal."

Mike Schregardus, vice president of international sales at Ovid, the company contracted last month to supply content for the NHS Wales e-library, said: "Every NHS Wales staff member now has easy access, on-site and off-site, to essential knowledge resources, together with the tools to find the information they need."

Discounts on current national e-library contracts and training days have also been arranged so staff can take full advantage of the new resources. Future plans include developing ‘knowledge tools’ for the National e-library for Health.

The journals can be accessed for free at http://www.wales.nhs.uk/ovidjournals/ for NHS Wales staff with an ATHENS password. A spokesperson for Informing Healthcare confirmed to E-Health Insider that the access to the journals are paid for centrally.

Ovid’s contract with NHS Wales is worth £480k per annum. "It means local organisations no longer have to spend locally, but can have national access to the journals," said a spokesperson for the Welsh NHS IT programme., "The money saved locally through this national contract can now be re-invested in patient care."

NHS Scotland has also been given access to a series of journals in a separate contract with Ovid Technologies. Access can be granted to NHS Scotland staff with a password obtained from the local NHS library. For more information, visit NHS Scotland’s eLibrary site.