Library Services

The library is in the postgraduate medical centre (PGMC) on the first floor, Woodcroft wing, yellow zone, Croydon University Hospital CR7 7YE .

Core staffed hours are 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday ( apart from over the Christmas and Easter break and on English bank holidays ).

Contact Us

Telephone 020 8401 3000 ext 3197 or 3198

Email chs.libraryenquires@nhs.net

Services

We provide a comprehensive , multidisciplinary healthcare library and knowledge service to : clinical and non-clinical staff employed by Croydon Health Services; Croydon Health Services’ volunteers and students o n placement at Croydon Health Services .

We can help with:

Access to evidence-based resources , including the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub , bibliographic databases such as Medline and CINAHL , e journals and point of care tools BMJ Best Practice and Up To Date .

NHS Open Athens advice

Information skills training (see below) and coaching on how to find evidence and critically appraise the literature. Request information skills training by calling 020 8 401 3197 or 3198 or by emailing chs.libraryenquires@nhs.net . Courses are detailed below.

Expert advice from qualified information professionals for all Trust staff, volunteers and students on placement both in the hospital setting and in the community to support patient care, Trust business objectives and professional development.

Accredited Health Literacy training.

Join the Library

Join the l ibrary to  borrow  up to 8 items for four weeks, including books and educational board games. 

Find the catalogue here

Request an article here

Request a book here

Self issue , return and renew items

Once you have joined, you can self - issue resources via our kiosk and renew and return items a s well.

We offer 24/7 access

The library is available as place to study, work and reflect 24/7 365 days a year.

Please help us protect the quiet reflective environment by not holding conversations in the library space.

Bookable rooms

IT suite - contains six PCs and large display screen

Silent s tudy r oom - two PCs and an adjustable desk

Pod - has comfortable seating for three people

We have 1 2 PCs and workspaces available 24/7 in the main library with eight additional PCs in meeting rooms

CHS Library Knowledge Services User Group

The Croydon Health Services Library and Knowledge Services User Group provides a space for discussion, raising awareness of resources and services, as well as opportunities for continuous improvement, research and learning.

We have a special interest in supporting quality improvement projects and using knowledge management techniques to meet organisational goals , support business cases and improve patient care.

Request to join our Library User group here or call 0208 401 3197 or 3198 for more information .

We support all clinical and non-clinical staff and students on placement at Croydon Health Services NHS Trust, by providing specialist searching and information services .

Diversity and wellbeing

We curate several reading lists and collections, including Uplifting Resources For the NHS ,  Women's Collection ,  Exploring Race and Ethnicity ,  Disability , Sustainability , Leadership , Quality Improvement and  LGBTQIA+  collections. 

Enjoy our stock of fiction reads and easy reads from Croydon public library. 

Play educational games  with your teams including The Leadership Game, The Communication Game, Removing Barriers Game and Teams That Care Game. 

Reflective reading groups and journal clubs

We facilitate Reflective Reading Groups which are safe spaces to discuss issues.

We don't only use text - based resources (e.g. books or articles) , and can help source podcasts or other formats for discussion .

We can support your j ournal c lub by sourcing and supplying articles and advising on copyright .

Do you want to receive brief, current, reliable evidence delivered to your inbox?

Let us keep you up to date in your specialist area.

We set up tables of contents alerts, bespoke current awareness to support your information needs. 

NHS Open Athens

All NHS staff both clinical and non-clinical can  self-register  for an NHS Open Athens account. Once registered users can access online resource such as ejournals , databases , elearning and ebooks amongst other resources.  Open Athens  is an authentication system that confirms you work for the Trust when using digital resources.

  e - Journals and Databases

To access ejournals and databases click  here and sign-in with your NHS Open Athens account.

Searching services and summaries of evidence with or without synthesis

We carry out complex literature searches, create evidence summaries and syntheses, carry out literature reviews and assist with critical appraisal on clinical and non-clinical topics.  

Just get in touch to discuss you and your team's needs at chs.libraryenquires@nhs.net

Request a literature search

A literature search is a systematic and well-organised search from the already published data to identify a breadth of good quality references on a specific topic.

Use our online request  form   to request a search or email us at chs.libraryenquires@nhs.net

Information Skills Training

We offer a suite of  information skills trainin g and coaching for  beginners to advanced  users, including Health Literacy   training , delivered in person or online .

There are  videos  and guides available, as well as an  elearning package that you can use for self-directed learning, or ask library staff to facilitate for you.

1. Information Skills: Confidently applying the basic skills and knowledge 

Learner objectives  

Open Athens - set up an account, understand what an OA account is and how to use it.

NHS Knowledge and Library Hub – understand in greater detail the purpose of the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub and how to plan a search using PICO .

H ow to identify key search terms, find alternative terms, why and how to use the thesaurus and how to use Boolean operators.

Be able to access BMJ Best Practice point of care tool and UpToDate on a laptop or PC and install on your mobile device.

2.   A gentle introduction to critical appraisal 

Learner objectives 

Understand hierarchy and levels of evidence.

Access checklists for quant itative and qualitative studies.

Find articles to appraise .

3.   Searching beyond the basics 

Learner objectives 

NHS Knowledge and Library Hub - understand in more depth including how to limit and export your result.

Intro duction to the Cochrane Library.

Introduction to BMJ Case Reports .

Introduction of Grey Literature.

Set up your access to Knowledgeshare and explore current awareness alerts .

4.   Introduction to referencing techniques and tools 

Learner objectives 

U nderstand what referencing is and why they should use it .

How to access and utilise NHS funded reference management packages .

Following referencing styles .

5.   Accessing e-books and e-journals 

Learner objectives 

Understand how to access e-books and e-journals via NHS OpenAthens .

Search for specific titles .

Set up e-journal alerts.

Overview of e-journals for your speciality.

Search the l ibrary catalogue .

6. Join the Library and discover resources for your speciality 

Dedicated time to manage all the processes related to joining the Library :

C ompleting a me mbership form .

S etti ng up an NHS OpenAthens account .

R equesting 24/7 access to the  library .

S etting up access to BMJ B est Practice and Up To Date .

R egistration for Knowledgeshare .

H ow to  search the catalogue.

A ccessing reading groups and leisure reads.

Tour of the library and l ibrary facilities .

Specific l ibrary resources related to your specialty .

7.   Support for journal clubs and reading groups 

Learner objectives 

Find out what is a journal club is and how the l ibrary can support a journal club in your  d epart ment.

Find out what reading groups there are at CHS and feel inspired to set a new one up .

How to request articles for journal clubs .

Brief overview of copyright .

8.  Health Literacy 

Health literacy is the personal characteristics and social resources needed for individuals  and communities to access, understand, appraise and use information and services to make  decisions about health.  

Learner objectives 

To increase your knowledge of what health literacy is and why it is relevant to your work .

To raise awareness of how having low health literacy impacts on individuals’ health and  w ellbeing .

To create a toolbox of techniques that can support people with low health literacy and promote health literacy in practice .

The course is accredited by RSPH Royal Society For Public Health.

Library rooms

All rooms (for staff) can be booked on the intranet or email chs.libraryenquires@nhs.net .

We recommend booking rooms even if you just drop-in as demand is very high . If a colleague subsequently books a room you have dropped into , we will have to ask you to leave to honour the subsequent booking.

IT suite

Our IT suite has 6 PCs and a large display screen . It can be  booked  for a training session, an online meeting or face to face meeting. When the room isn't booked just drop-in. 

You can r equest a laptop and headphone loan for use in the Library . 

Pod

The Library Pod can be booked  or use d as a drop-in space. There are three comfortable seats and two bean bags . It isn't 100% soundproof but it is appropriate for online meetings and discussions. There are no PCs so please bring a fully charged device with you , if required . The plug sockets in the Pod can only be used for the Pod lamp and not for charging anything, including laptops or phones.

Silent Study Room

The Silent Study Room has two desks, one of which is adjustable, and two PCs. It is for silent study only. No talking or speech based meetings are allowed.

Printing, scanning and photocopying facilities are available to users with a Trust log-on . Please bring paper from your department for printing purposes.

The Library is a quiet space 

We ask for all patrons to respect the l ibrary as a quiet space for work, study and reflection. 

Please do not use your mobile phones for voice calls whilst in the l ibrary.

Library Services

Search the Croydon Health Services NHS Trust website