The NHS Knowledge and Library Services can give you access to thousands of journals, e-books, guidelines, medical databases, clinical decision support tools and providing up to date, trusted evidence and information, all online and in one place. Enabling high quality decision making, professional development, research and innovation to achieve health improvement across England, locally, regionally and nationally.
Its fully funded by NHS England for NHS staff, trainees, students and learners throughout their career.
Black Country ICS Digital Knowledge and Library Services
Supporting your professional development and information needs
Digital services are delivered collaboratively with library services across Black Country NHS Trusts: Black Country Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust, The Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust and Walsall Healthcare NHS Trust. These services are offered on behalf of the Black Country Integrated Care System (ICS) and are designed to empower your professional development and address your information needs.
We are dedicated to supporting your professional growth and providing the resources you need to excel in your role.
To unlock the full potential of our digital library resources, you'll need an NHS OpenAthens account. This account grants you access to a vast collection of online tools and resources purchased nationally by the NHS.
- To set up and register for an account, please register.
- When registering please make sure you select the correct organisation: Primary Care and ICB staff in the Midlands and East of England. If you start typing Midlands in the search box it will appear in the results.
- Need help? If you need any support on how to register, please watch this video guide.
Join a HeLM library in order to access audiobooks and KnowledgeShare.
Fill in our online registration form to join.
Eligibility
The service is open to all acute trust, mental health, primary care and ICB staff in the Black Country including;
- Employees, workers and contractors of NHS organisations which provide NHS-commissioned care in England (A)
- Individuals of non-NHS organisations which provide NHS-commissioned care in England. The individual must be working directly with NHS patients (B)
- Employees, workers and contractors of organisations which commission care for NHS patients in England (C)
- Employees, workers and contractors of organisations which receive government funding to provide executive, regulatory, advisory and delivery services to the NHS in England (D)
- Individual employees, workers and contractors of organisations which receive government funding to provide social care services or information to support social care service delivery (E)
- Registered health care professionals who provide NHS-commissioned care in England (F)
- Individuals contracted to provide education, training or research for the NHS in England (G)
- Healthcare students, from the date of commencement of an education programme which involves practice and placement within NHS provider services, for the duration of their programme (H)
See further details here OpenAthens eligibility | OpenAthens | Knowledge resources | Evidence and best practice resources | What we do | About | NICE
Knowledge and Library Hub: The NHS Knowledge and Library Hub connects healthcare staff and learners to high quality, NHS-funded, knowledge and evidence resources in one place, using a single search. The ‘Hub’ includes all journal articles, e-books, guidelines and evidence summary tools provided nationally and by your local NHS library team. It provides seamless access to full text, as an immediate download, or on request from an NHS library. Avoids the less-reliable sources you might find in a general web search.
Audiobooks: Health Libraries Midlands (HeLM) members can borrow up to three audiobooks for two weeks. Titles range from self-help and biographies to fiction, wellbeing, therapies, and menopause. To register for this service please join the library , then please contact: bchft.
KnowledgeShare: KnowledgeShare allows library members to:
- Sign up for highly targeted updates based on their professional interests
- Book onto Library skills sessions and manage their bookings
- Connect with colleagues based on shared professional interests
Online reading group: Join a relaxed and friendly online book discussion group that meets every other month via Microsoft Teams. For more information or to join, contact bchft.
Information skills training: Develop your information skills with our free training sessions, available for both individuals and groups. To book a session, please contact – training page.
Website and email contact details:
| Black Country Healthcare | |
| Sandwell and West Birmingham | |
| Dudley | |
| Wolverhampton | |
| Walsall |
