Health Library

Audit Commission - independent public body, provides audit reports and guidance for health professionals and senior managers; see the Health Section

Care Quality Commision - independent regulator for health and social care in England

Department of Health - official publications, NHS policy and guidance, social care, public health and health statistics

Dr Foster - health and medical guides

Freedom of Information Publication Scheme - types of information the Department makes available to the public, how to access them and any costs that may apply

NHS Information Centre - specialist authority which collects facts and figures on the NHS

Referral to Treatment Waiting Times

West Midlands Deanery - support for training and education for foundation programme, specialties, general practice, dentistry and academic training

NHS e-Learning Readiness Toolkit - support for delivering e-Learning in the NHS

NHS e-Learning Repository - repository containing elearning objects

Skills for Health Core Learning Unit - learning management tool for use within the NHS

Keele Career and Employability: Occupations Wiki - includes details on a range of healthcare-related careers, as well as a range of useful links.

Health Professions Council

Medical Careers - a career planning guide to help NHS staff to select the options for them to help progress their career as a doctor in the NHS. Also includes help for prospective medical students.

NCAS - National Clinical Assessment Service, provides a support service to health authorities, primary care trusts and hospital and community trusts who are faced with concerns over the performance of an individual doctor.

NHS Careers - entry requirements and training; look for a job and apply online; find out about the benefits of working in the NHS.

NHS Jobs - information on applying for jobs in the NHS.

NHS Pensions - news and updates about your NHS pension, including pension calculator.

NHS Professionals - manages a wide range of flexible work opportunities for nursing, medical and administration and clerical staff.

NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement - supports the NHS and its partner organisations in developing and integrating new ways of working and new technology to improve patient care

NHS Connecting for Health - maintains and develops the NHS national IT infrastructure

Health and Social Care Act 2012

Health and Social Care Act 2012 - explained via Department of Health

Health and Social Care Act 2012 - presentation

History of NHS Reform - interactive timeline from the Nuffield Trust

New structure of the NHS in England - slideshow from the Nuffield Trust

NHS Midlands and East Map - includes lists of trusts and clinical commissioning groups

National Patient Safety Agency - coordinates reporting and learning from mistakes and problems that affect patient safety

Clean Your Hands - program supporting evidence-based hand hygiene so preventing healthcare associated infections

Harm Free Care - guidelines

NHS Choices - gateway to National Health Service organisations on the Internet.

NHS Direct - website providing high quality health information and advice for the people of England; it is supported by a 24 hour nurse advice and information helpline

NHS Local Jargon Buster - explanations for commonly used medical terms

NHS Plus - Network of NHS occupational health (OH) departments across England, offering quality OH services to non-NHS employers. Their site also offers occupational health and safety advice for NHS staff

NHS Screening Portal

• NHS books at the Library
• NHS ebooks

The links provided in this section refer to major reports and inquiries affecting many aspects of the NHS.

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry 2012 - examined "the commissioning, supervisory and regulatory organisations in relation to their monitoring role at Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between January 2005 and March 2009.  It will consider why the serious problems at the Trust were not identified and acted on sooner, and will identify important lessons to be learnt for the future of patient care".

Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Inquiry 2010 - looking at "the care provided by Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust between January 2005 and March 2009.   The inquiry considered individual cases of patient care, so that further lessons not already identified by previous investigations could be learned".