IN DEPTH
Alison Day, Knowledge and Library Services Senior Manager, NHS England
Clare Edwards, Knowl- edge and Library Services Senior Manager, NHS England
Sarah Lewis, Library Services Manager, Buck- inghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust
Gil Young, Knowledge and Library Services Development Manager, NHS England
The Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy: Five years on
In March 2026, the Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy short-course skills development programme was re-accredited by CILIP. In the five years since the initial accreditation, the Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy has gone from strength to strength and we are delighted to receive accreditation for the short course programme from CILIP for 2026-29.
IN this article we will share experiences from the team that was involved in achieving the only current short course programme accreditation with CILIP (
www.cilip.org.uk/ CILIPShortCourseAccreditation). We will reflect on the process, outline the benefits of offering accredited learning and consider future developments. Our aim is to highlight the benefits of accredited learning to course participants and encourage other knowledge, information and library services to think about accrediting their own learning offers. Alison, Clare and Gil work for NHS England as members of the national NHS Knowledge and Library Services team, leading the strategic develop- ment of knowledge and library services for the NHS across England. They are assisted by Sarah, who brings her expertise as a practising NHS Library Ser- vices Manager to the work to develop the specialist NHS knowledge and library services workforce in England.
Leading the provision of bespoke training to upskill and ensure the talent supply pipeline of highly qualified health knowledge and library services specialist staff for the NHS in England is a key part of the work of the national team. As part of this, we
16 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL
work in partnership with specialist NHS knowledge and library practitioners to maintain the employer-led centre of excellence for skills development for all health knowledge and library staff, The Knowledge for Healthcare Learning Academy
The role of NHS knowledge and library staff in England is to ensure access to and use of the right evidence and knowledge at the right time and in the right place. They save NHS staff time by searching, appraising and presenting decision-ready evidence from data, published research and best practice. They bring the evidence to underpin research, pol- icy, practice and drive innovation in the NHS. NHS knowledge and library specialists have a specific role enabling the NHS to maximise efficiencies through effective use of emerging digital technologies. In the left shift from analogue to digital outlined in the
June-July 2026
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