Junior Doctors' Guide
We continue to provide a full range of support services, including:
Our Whipps Cross library is open 09:00 to 17.00 Monday to Friday. There are also knowledge hubs (computer rooms) at Whipps Cross and Newham which are accessible 24/7.
The Library Hubs at St Bartholomew’s and The Royal London are open to staff 24/7.
The Newham Library was closed on 13th May 2022 to allow for essential fire safety refurbishment work.
An new Library Computer Room has opened on the first floor of the MEC providing access to PCs 24/7. Access is directly from the main hospital corridor.
While we are refurbing our new library location, a member of KLS staff will be available (9-5) in the MEC and are currently located on the ground floor near the MEC reception.
There are 10 PCs available to users to undertake e-learning and studying in the Library Hub at The Royal London, located in Outpatient Therapies on the 2nd floor, North Tower. Books requested from other libraries can be delivered to this library.
Opening hours: 24 hour swipe access, but staffed Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm (subject to staff availability)
Located on the ground floor of the KGV building, in the imaging department.
Opening hours: 24 hour swipe access, staffed Monday - Friday 9am - 5pm
There are 8 user PCs in the library for trust staff to use along with a small core collection of books. Library users, based at SBH, can request items from our other libraries and collect them from here.
Located at Junction 11 in Willow Lodge off the main hospital corridor. On entering the education centre please pass reception and turn right.
Opening hours: Monday to Friday, 9am - 5pm
The knowledge hub provides 24/7 access to PCs and study spaces for Whipps Cross doctors with swipe badges. The knowledge hub is opposite the education centre reception.
Membership to the library is available to all Barts Health staff, students on placement and volunteers. Prospective new members will be asked to produce proof of employment, normally a staff ID. Students will be asked to produce their university photographic ID badge on their first visit.
Please either register online or visit one of our library's during staffed hours and complete a membership form. Select the nearest Barts Health library as your home library from the drop down list provided.
Members can borrow up to 6 books, our loan period is 3 weeks and books can be renewed up to 4 times. Members can have access to our subscription content and may request items which are not in our collection through our interlibrary loans and document delivery services.
In the library, we also support staff with additional support needs by providing longer loan periods on our books, or by checking to see if a title is available as an ebook for you in order to increase the font size or make it more accessible. If you have any additional support needs at all that the library can accommodate, please let us know!
OpenAthens is your key to accessing a wide range of quality health and social care online information and resources including: databases, e-journals and e-books. OpenAthens accounts are freely available to NHS staff in England and you can use your account to access the resources from anywhere via the internet.
Barts Health NHS trust staff can self-register for an account at:
If you have any queries regarding OpenAthens please contact the local OpenAthens Administrator Timo Pilgram, at bartshealth.library@nhs.net
Do you want to learn how to relevant and appropriate evidence? Or carry out effective literature searching? Or maybe you're just overwhelmed by the many resources we have? If you need help with any of our resources, we offer training to all Barts Health staff. Training sessions can be one to one - at your desk or ours, in small groups, or virtually via Teams. Training sessions available include:
If you feel you need some training on anything related to library resources or services – or even just a quick walk through the features of a particular database – please don’t hesitate to contact us!
Request Training
Don't have the time to search the bibliographic databases yourself, or perhaps you are struggling to find anything relevant? Our staff are skilled at carrying out literature searches in support of research and patient care. We can help to save you time and ensure you find the high quality information you need.
This is a free service provided by Barts Health Knowledge and Library Services to support clinical practice, service development and research. You can have your search set up as an alert so that you will be emailed details of new publications on a weekly or monthly basis.
To request an Evidence search, please contact us at bartshealth.library@nhs.net or fill in the online request form (you will need to use your OpenAthens credentials to request a search).
Request Evidence SearchDo you want to help our patients to better understand, access and use health information so they can make informed decisions about their health? Health Literacy Awareness training offers healthcare professionals an opportunity to better understand what health literacy is. In this 1-hour session, participants will learn how health literacy affects health outcomes and primarily how limited health literacy can lead to poorer health outcomes. You will also discover tools, techniques and resources to use in practice to support those with limited health literacy. This course is aimed at anyone with a role in providing information to patients and carers, or who has a responsibility in planning and shaping services.
Qualifications supported
Sessions run from 1 - 2pm on the last Thursday of every month. Book onto a session by contacting the library team at bartshealth.library@nhs.net.
KnowledgeShare Evidence Updates provide a highly tailored, individual update of newly published health care information in your areas of interest.
Request a personalised Evidence Update by completing our online form or by emailing your areas of interest to bartshealth.library@nhs.net.
How does it work?
Tell Knowledge and Library Services about your areas of interest - you can be as broad or as detailed as you like - and how often you would like to be updated. Your evidence update will be personally configured by a professional librarian to ensure you only receive relevant, high quality information. Find out more about KnowledgeShare here.
What kind of information will be included in the update?
The health care evidence from KnowledgeShare is drawn from a wide variety of sources, including local publications and events, published research literature and national guidance and policy documents. Each item is selected, categorised and summarised by professional health librarians to save you time.
How often will I be updated?
Your librarian will email you a consolidated update once every two weeks, so you are not overloaded with updates. If you see anything in the update you want more information on, simply reply to the email and ask.