information needs. I loved being part of these teams.
Drawing on my experience of working as a One-Person Librarian, I wrote a guide to “personal professional development for solo librarians” for LA Publishing. This led to invitations to speak in Berlin and Copenhagen, to learn from col- leagues across Europe, and to work with Deutsches BibiliotheksInstitut on their curricula for continuing professional development for ‘special’ librarians. I have always seen the value of investing in my own professional development. Certain- ly, completing a part time research MSc on the information needs and seeking behaviour of GPs around this time helped to forge the way to becoming the Knowl- edge Manager for the local Primary Care Group, and then for the Vale of Aylesbury Primary Care Trust (PCT). Working over a larger geography enabled me to take a more strategic approach, for instance forming a consortium with partner libraries to introduce 24/7 access to medical databases for staff and learners ahead of the national service and up- skilling users in literature searching. In parallel, I was learning that many of the descriptions of knowledge management (KM) are obscure. To share how practical a discipline it is, I started using a simple ABC: A for Applying evidence into practice, B for Building know-how, C for Continuing to learn. In recent years, I have added D for Driving innovation to the mantra. Over a period of 17 years, I built a portfolio career, part employed and partly working as a freelance information specialist. I supported a wide variety of clients alongside my input to general practices. For Cooperation for Develop- ment, a non-government organisation, I set up an Education Development Centre. As a Knowledge Architect with Doctors.
net.uk, I thrived in the buzz of the early dotcom era. I undertook many short pro- jects for the NHS such as advising on the development of Public Health and Health Promotion libraries, evaluating informa- tion products.
Informed decisions
While I retained my conviction that library and information professionals can inform better research, and better decision-making, working across so many settings underlined the huge influence of system drivers and human factors of change. Evidence is never the only voice in the room and, indeed, evidence does not speak for itself.
I was fortunate to work to the far-sighted Sir Muir Gray, first Chief Knowledge Officer for the NHS on a project to support the development of primary care and pub- lic health librarians. Being hosted by Milton Keynes PCT in this role created an
16 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL DIGITAL
opportunity to pitch an idea for which we secured funding from the Health Founda- tion. Managing the Quality: MK pro- gramme was exhilarating. It was founded on three principles: clinical leadership, patient involvement and evidence-based practice. As one stream of the work we developed the role of Commissioning Librarian, and ran journal clubs across practices, focused on applying actionable knowledge to make an impact on care. Joining a two-year Leading Improve- ment Teams programme was part of the deal, and suddenly I was packing away a kitbag of trusted tools and techniques. I wished I had got some of these quality improvement approaches under my belt earlier – driver diagrams, process map- ping, Thinking Differently. I strongly rec- ommend that information professionals find a way to build these tools into their repertoire as they complement KM tools and techniques like After Action Reviews and Appreciative Inquiry. Recruited as a full-time Chief Knowledge Officer for Milton Keynes PCT in 2009, the span of the work grew from heading up on knowledge management and knowledge services, business intelligence and primary care IT, to include governance and engage- ment with primary care and the pub- lic. A series of organisational changes in the NHS followed, channelling me into ever more senior roles as the PCT evolved into a Clinical Commissioning Group for which I became a director in 2012. This was fabulous experi- ence. I thoroughly enjoyed leading on organisational development and on the specification of our requirements from a newly established Commission- ing Support Unit, and the leadership development of the new clinically led Board. Like my initial induction in the NHS, supporting our clinical Chair as the managerial lead on urgent care was an eye opener and it really highlighted the challenge of getting
research into practice.
Once the CCG was fully fledged, I started to get itchy feet. Equally important my father was terminally ill and had come to live with us; I wanted to rediscover some of the hours in the day. Spotting a vacancy for a part time tutor with the former Health Education England supporting the development of GPs and practice managers, I resumed portfolio working, also working as a Quality Improvement facilitator in primary care. I loved both roles.
Knowledge for Healthcare Within months I was asked to put some time in to facilitate HEE’s regional library leads to develop a national strategy for NHS knowledge and library services in England. This was an ex- traordinary opportunity to draw on all that I had learned through my career with the goal of ensuring that the right knowledge and evidence is used, at the
December 2024
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