On 30th April the "Specialist libraries" which had been provided by the National Library for Health became "Specialist collections" under the new NHS Evidence service provided by NICE. The specialist collections have been developed to identify and meet the information needs of particular communities of practice. They are web-based collections containing clinical and non-clinical information on the major health priority areas. Each specialist collection identifies and provides access to quality assessed information of relevance to the community that it serves.
An aspect of this involves the production of Annual Evidence Updates, which aim to highlight the best current evidence for selected healthcare topics. Annual Evidence Updates consist of the good quality evidence from a search of research evidence on a particular topic over a 12 month period, plus user-friendly summaries written by relevant experts, and links to guidelines, secondary research and primary research, if applicable. All information included in Annual Evidence Updates has been subject to rigorous selection criteria.
The calendar of currently confirmed Annual Evidence Updates until December 2009 is available
here. The following updates are scheduled scheduled for August:
Diabetic retinopathy (
NHS Evidence - diabetes collection) - 24th August
Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the most common cause of blindness in working age people in the UK. The annual evidence update on diabetic retinopathy provides an opportunity to present an up-to-date comprehensive collection of information that has been subject to rigorous selection criteria. The coverage of the annual evidence update has been developed on the basis of topics suggested by UK diabetic retinopathy experts. Information is organised by topic areas and links are provided within each topic to the relevant systematic reviews, primary research, guidelines and patient information. Topics include:
- incidence and prevalence of DR
- epidemiology and progression of DR
- factors influencing development of DR
- screening for DR
- treatment, surgery, modern therapies
- blindness and visual impairment
- automated computer algorithm Do Once and Share Project
- DR in Europe
- replies to frequently asked questions
Headache (NHS Evidence – neurological conditions collection) - 24th August
The Neurological Conditions Specialist Collection Project Team has carried out a systematic literature search on headache to identify all high level evidence published since the date of the last headache Annual Evidence Update in 2008, including guidelines, systematic reviews, health technology assessments and economic evaluations. Leading headache and migraine experts from around the UK have read and appraised these for their validity and relevance to the busy clinician. A list of the papers deemed worthy of inclusion, along with expert commentaries by our reviewers, will be freely available.
