Developing information skills training for National Health Service personnel: experiences at the Trent Institute for Health Services Research

Abstract

The need for IT (Information Technology) and information skills training has been revisited by a new approach to clinical decision‐making in the National Health Service (NHS): evidence based practice. The Trent Institute for Health Services Research supports NHS staff in the Trent region either wishing to implement evidence based practice or to undertake research of their own by providing advice and training. A range of courses providing training in research skills has been developed. Included in this range are four half‐day information skills courses, developed by the Information Resources section of the Trent Institute: Literature Searching, Health information on the Internet, Introducing the Cochrane Library and Sources for clinical effectiveness. Aims and objectives for each course have been developed to facilitate the development of course materials and the evaluation of training. Evaluation questionnaires are completed by course participants and at the time of writing (November 1997), response has been positive. The information collected is being used to plan future courses for the next academic year, such as Training the Trainers courses.