Information Skills Training

Improve your skills in finding and using healthcare literature.

Our training courses support healthcare staff in Leeds to search online information resources effectively, critically appraise healthcare literature, and improve awareness of the health literacy needs amongst our patients. We offer a schedule of group courses delivered via MS Teams throughout the year.

Browse upcoming dates and book onto a session below.

Our group courses:

BMJ Best Practice Training

Helping clinicians to follow best practice, improve patient outcomes and reduce quality variation using BMJ Best Practice

Upcoming Sessions:

Thursday 17th April 2025: 14:00-14:30 
Tuesday 20th May 2025: 12:00-12:30
Monday 16th June 2025: 13:00-13:30
Tuesday 8th July 2025: 10:00-10:30

Can't make these dates but want to learn more?

If you would like to have this course delivered on a specific date for your department or team, contact us to discuss options.

If you need additional support to you getting started with BMJ Best Practice, please visit the training page on the BMJ website to book onto their 30 minute webinars, watch a recording of one of their training sessions or/and view training slides.

Easy access to journals and eBooks

Upcoming dates

Monday 7th April: 11:00-12:00
Monday 28th April: 11:00-12:00
Monday 19th May: 11:00-12:00
Monday 9th June: 11:00-12:00
Monday 23rd June: 11:00-12:00
Monday 7th July: 11:00-12:00
Monday 14th July: 11:00-12:00

Can't make the course but want to learn more about accessing to ejournals and eBooks?

If you would like to have this course delivered on a specific date for your department or team, contact us to discuss options. 

NHS England have produced a short video on how to register for an NHS Open Athens account in order to access ejournals and ebooks.

Our Find Evidence page introduces the different ways of finding and accessing online resources for NHS staff. You can also find out more about NHS OpenAthens, and manage your account easily online. Browse our A-Z of evidence to discover more of what's available to you, and explore our Topic Guides to find information resources selected to support your role or professional interests. 

Contact your library service with any further queries. 

 

 

Introduction to the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub

A 45 minute webinar introducing the new NHS Knowledge and Library Hub, packed with tips to get the most out of the Hub's content.

Upcoming Sessions:

Monday 14th April 2025: 11:00-11:45
Monday 17th April 2025: 10:00-10:45
Monday 2nd June 2025: 11:00-11:45
Monday 16th June 2025: 11:00-11:45
Monday 30th June 2025: 11:00-11:45
Monday 28th July 2025: 11:00-11:45

Can't make the course but want to learn more about the Knowledge and Library Hub?

NHS England have produced a Basic User Guide, a 2 minute video introduction and a 5 minute video guide to the NHS Knowledge and LIbrary Hub. For more information about the functions and purpose of the Knowledge Hub, browse the FAQs.

Module 7 of the elearning course How to Search the Literature Effectively looks at how to get the best out of the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub

Searching Skills

A 90 minute, interactive course introducing principles and techniques for planning and carrying out an effective in-depth, reproducible search of healthcare literature.

Upcoming Sessions:

Tuesday 29th April 2025: 14:00-15:30
Thursday 22nd of May 2025: 15:00-16:30
Tuesday 10th of June 2025: 10:30-12:00
 

How to book this course:

Browse available dates for this course and make a booking through our training calendar. All courses will be delivered online via MS Teams. 

If you would like to have this course delivered on a specific date for your department or team, contact us to discuss options. 

Can't make the course but want to learn more about Searching Skills?

For more resources on how to plan and carry out effective literature searches, see our information skills guide.

A self directed elearning course covering similar topics to the Searching Skills course has been produced by NHS England. How to Search the Literature Effectively: A step-by-step guide to finding information and developing the skills for successful searching is available via the eLearning for Healthcare Hub. 

These modules are designed to help the healthcare workforce (clinical and non-clinical) build confidence to search published literature for articles and evidence relevant to their work, study and research. The modules are short (each taking no more than 20 minutes to complete) and may be ‘dipped into’ for reference, or completed to obtain a certificate. There are seven modules suitable for novice searchers and those wishing to refresh their knowledge.

Contact us for any further support. 

Critical Appraisal – a Beginner’s Guide

Supporting the need to use the best evidence in decision making, research, and study, this 2 hour critical appraisal course equips candidates with the basic theory and tools required to understand why and how to appraise a research paper. 

Upcoming Sessions:

Wednesday 7th May 2025: 11:00-13:00
Wednesday 4th June 2025: 9:30-11:30

Can't make the course but want to learn more about Critical Appraisal?

For more resources to support Critical Appraisal, see our information skills guide. 

A self directed elearning course covering similar topics to the Critical Appraisal course has been produced by NHS England. Critically Appraising the Evidence Base: Enabling the healthcare workforce to build skills and confidence is available via the eLearning for Healthcare Hub.

This programme aims to support NHS colleagues with understanding the different methods and tools to carry out critical appraisal of research, through 8 bite-sized modules. The sessions are short, with each topic taking approximately 30 minutes to complete.

Contact us for any further support. 

Health Literacy Awareness

Our one hour health literacy awareness session highlights some of the barriers that affect people’s understanding and use of health information.  It also provides tools and resources for healthcare professionals to support patients to make more informed decisions about their healthcare.

Upcoming Sessions:

Tuesday 15th April 2025: 13:00-14:00
Wednesday 30th April 2025: 15:00-16:00
Wednesday 14th May 2025: 14:00-15:00
Tuesday 20th May 2025: 13:30-14:30
Tuesday 9th June 2025: 14:00-15:00
Tuesday 17th June 2025: 12:00-13:00

Can't make the course but want to learn more about Health Literacy?

This 30-minute NHS e-learning session delivered via e-LfH will teach you why health literacy is important and how to use some simple techniques including TeachBack, chunk and check, using pictures and simple language to improve how you communicate and check understanding with others.

Find more resources through our guide to Health Literacy.

Contact us for any further support. 

Writing for publication

This one hour session will guide you through the process of getting your work published, including hints and tips to get you started, outlining pitfalls to avoid, and highlighting further support and resources.

Upcoming Sessions:

Tuesday 29th April 2025 : 9:30 - 10:30
Wednesday 21st May 2025 : 13:00 - 14:00
Thursday 19th June 2025 : 11:00 - 12:00

Can't make the course but want to learn more?

Please visit the Writing for Publication pages on the NHS England Learning Academy website.

e-Learning

If self directed learning might be a better choice for you, or if you want to start developing your information skills before attanding one of our courses, a range of elearning courses are now available. These are centrally provided by NHS England.

All of these courses can be accessed through the eLearning for Healthcare Hub. Register and log in to access these programmes on the elfh Hub. If you already have an account with elfh, then you can enrol on to these courses by logging in to the elfh Hub, selecting My Account > Enrolment and selecting the programme. You can then access the programme immediately in the My elearning section.

  • How to Search the Literature Effectively: A step-by-step guide to finding information and developing the skills for successful searching
    • These modules are designed to help the healthcare workforce (clinical and non-clinical) build confidence to search published literature for articles and evidence relevant to their work, study and research. The modules are short (each taking no more than 20 minutes to complete) and may be ‘dipped into’ for reference, or completed to obtain a certificate. There are seven modules suitable for novice searchers and those wishing to refresh their knowledge.
    • Module 7 looks at how to get the best out of the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub
  • Critically Appraising the Evidence Base: Enabling the healthcare workforce to build skills and confidence
    • The critical appraisal programme has been designed to enable the healthcare workforce (clinical and non-clinical) to build confidence in the critical appraisal process when applying and evaluating research.

    • This programme aims to support NHS colleagues with understanding the different methods and tools to carry out critical appraisal of research, through 8 bite-sized modules. The sessions are short, with each topic taking approximately 30 minutes to complete.

  • Health literacy: You can make a difference

    • NHS Education for Scotland (NES) and NHS England have collaborated to develop a new elearning module to help you understand the role health literacy plays in making sure everyone has enough knowledge, understanding, skills and confidence to use health information, to be active partners in their care, and to navigate health and social care systems.

    • The elearning session takes about 30 minutes to complete.  At the end of the session, you will know why health literacy is important and how to use some simple techniques including TeachBack, chunk and check, using pictures and simple language to improve how you communicate and check understanding with others. After each section you can complete an action plan of how you intend to use the techniques in your practice. You can use this plan as evidence of your learning in your appraisal or professional portfolio.

We can also offer tailored training on these skills for your department or team. Contact us to discuss.

If your training needs are more specific, you can book a one-to-one course.

You can also find resources to help you develop your search and appraisal skills in our Information Skills Guide, or contact us with specific queries.

 

OpenAthens

An OpenAthens account gives all NHS staff and learners access to a wide range of online resources.