NHS Evidence

The service was created as part of a broader initiative by the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown "to improve quality of care" provided by the National Health Services (NHS) to the public.{{Cite web |title=High Quality Care For All NHS Next Stage Review Final Report |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5a7c3a5b40f0b67d0b11fbaf/7432.pdf}} It was established in April 2009 as part of Parliamentary Under Secretary of State Lord Darzi's strategy report{{cite web |date=May 2008 |title=Our NHS Our Future: NHS Next Stage Review Leading Local Change |url=http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH |publisher=Department of Health}} 084644 on the future of the NHS commissioned by the Brown government, entitled "High-Quality Care for All". In his report, Darzi identified the need for better information access to improve services.{{Cite web |title=UK Government Web Archive |url=https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/ukgwa/20090708065326/http://www.library.nhs.uk/aboutnlh/privacypolicy |access-date=2023-09-27 |website=webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk}}

NHS Evidence allowed users to search over 100 health and social care databases simultaneously,{{Cite web |title=NICE Evidence Search |url=https://healthacademy.lancsteachinghospitals.nhs.uk/app/uploads/2021/02/Library-Guide-NICE-Evidence-Search.pdf}} including The Cochrane Library, the British National Formulary and the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Users could search in clinical areas and in demographic and policy subjects, including topics related to inequalities in services available to different population groups.{{cite web|url=http://www.library.nhs.uk/ethnicity|title=Ethnicity and Health|work=NICE|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070216215629/http://www.library.nhs.uk/ethnicity/|archivedate=2007-02-16}}

Its budget in 2009 and 2010 was £19,433,000. In 2010 and 2011 it was £24,438,000.{{cite web |date=16 March 2010 |title=Budget for NHS Evidence - a Freedom of Information request to National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence |url=http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/budget_for_nhs_evidence |publisher=}}

Information available via NHS Evidence included clinical and public health guidance, government policy, patient data, pharmacological data, systematic reviews, primary research, and grey literature.

There were six 'lots', or categories, of data available as defined by NICE, organized by type of source.{{cite web|url=https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/framework/nicefa/purchasing-toolkit/products-services|title=NICE Electronic & Print Content Framework|publisher=NICE|accessdate=4 June 2013}} These categories were: 1) print journals; 2) electronic journals; 3) print books; 4) electronic books; 5) databases; and 6) aggregated evidence summaries. Source providers were as follows: [https://www.123doc.com/ 123Doc]; BMJ; Wiley-Blackwell; [https://librarytechnology.org/document/20823 Coutts]; Dawson; EBSCO; Oxford University Press; Ovid; Pharmaceutical Press; ProQuest; Tomlinsons; and Waterstone.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The acronym "NICE" refers to the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, a special health authority that was initially responsible for maintaining the evidence search service. Following the Health and Social Care Act 2012, NICE was renamed the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence and changed from a special health authority to an executive non-departmental public body. NICE International{{Cite web |title=About NICE International {{!}} NICE International {{!}} What we do {{!}} About |url=https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/nice-international/about-nice-international |access-date=2024-08-31 |website=NICE}} was established in 2008 to help cultivate links with foreign governments{{cite news |last=Cheng |first=Tsung-Mei |author-link1=Cheng Tsung-Mei |date=2009-09-15 |title=Nice approach |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/5be67610-9ce2-11de-ab58-00144feabdc0,s01=1.html?nclick_check=1 |access-date=2009-09-18 |newspaper=Financial Times}} and universities in the UK and abroad. NICE International has received financial support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation.{{Cite web |date=2017-07-19 |title=Annual General Meeting and Public Board Meeting |url=https://www.nice.org.uk/Media/Default/Get-involved/Meetings-In-Public/Public-board-meetings/agenda-and-papers-jul-17.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220121060646/https://www.nice.org.uk/Media/Default/Get-involved/Meetings-In-Public/Public-board-meetings/agenda-and-papers-jul-17.pdf |archive-date=2022-01-21 |access-date=2022-06-15 |website=National Institute for Health and Care Excellence}} Part of its process involves the publication of [https://www.idsihealth.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/MEEP-report.pdf case studies.]

The Norwegian Electronic Health Library (Helsebiblioteket.no) is a similar public website for health professionals and students.

{{Reflist}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20130523125352/https://www.evidence.nhs.uk/ NHS Evidence [archived from original]]
• [http://www.nice.org.uk/ National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE)]
• [https://www.nice.org.uk/about/what-we-do/nice-international/about-nice-international NICE International]
• [https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167170 Development of a Search Strategy for an Evidence Based Retrieval Service [journal article]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nhs Evidence}}

Category:British medical websites

Category:Evidence-based medicine

Category:Defunct National Health Service organisations

Category:Health research