The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland

Evidence, resources and updates for health and social care.

Blog

  • The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland – Christmas Closure Information

    All branches of Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland will be closed Saturday 23rd December to Monday 1st January inclusive. Please review branch specific information below.

    Normal opening hours resume on Tuesday 2nd January 2024.

    Please be advised access to E-Resources will remain available over the closure period at heathcarelibrary.qub.ac.uk.

    Contact your local branch directly if you have any questions.

    QUB Medical Biology Centre

    Monday 18th – Friday 22nd December 9:00am – 5:00pm.

    Closed Saturday 23rd December to Monday 1st January inclusive.

    Royal Victoria Hospital

    Monday 18th – Friday 22nd December 8:30am – 5:00pm

    Closed Saturday 23rd December to Monday 1st January inclusive.

    Antrim Area Hospital

    Monday 18th – Wednesday 20th December 9:00am – 5:00pm

    Thursday 21st December 9:00am – 4.30pm

    Closed Friday 22nd December to Monday 1st January inclusive.

    Altnagelvin Area Hospital

    Monday 18th – Friday 22nd December 9:00am – 5:00pm

    Closed Saturday 23rd December to Monday 1st January inclusive.

    Craigavon Area Hospital

    Monday 18th – Thursday 21st December 9:00am – 5:00pm

    Friday 22nd December 9:00 – 3:00pm

    Closed Saturday 23rd December to Monday 1st January inclusive.

    Happy Christmas from all at the Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland.

  • Change of opening hours – Antrim Healthcare Library – week beginning 20th November 2023

    There will be a change of opening hours for Antrim Healthcare Library, based in Fern House on the Antrim Hospital Site week beginning 20th November 2023.

    Monday – open 9.00am – 4.30pm

    Tuesday & Wednesday open 9.00am – 2.00pm ONLY

    Thursday – open 9.00am – 4.30pm

    Friday – open 9.00am – 4.30pm

  • The Healthcare Library’s Standards of Service

    The Healthcare Library’s Standards of Service

    The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland has since 2018 been committed to ensuring a consistent and excellent delivery of service through a range of 18 service standards broadly covering the following service areas:

    Person holding a rosette with a tick. It is surrounded by stars

    The purpose of our Standards of Service is to provide a measurable performance level to guarantee that the Library will meet customer needs. Examples of these Standards include a set response time for an enquiry, a commitment to supplying interlibrary loan requests within a certain period and simply ensuring that our Healthcare Library customers are happy with our library environments. All but six of our Standards of Service have a target of 100% which demonstrates that the Library is striving to provide the best possible service.

    Speech bubble saying We want your feedback

    All library staff are responsible for ensuring that the provision of service meets set targets and, each year, the Library reviews its customer-focused service targets and we publish our performance against these targets. As part of this process, we would like your input – if you have any feedback or comments on our Standards of Service please let us know via our  
    Customer Feedback Page.

    We are particularly interested to hear if you feel that there are important areas of service delivery on which we should focus or whether our targets meet your needs

    A group of medical professionals

  • Healthcare Library E-resource access problem

    There is currently a problem periodically affecting some users accessing certain resources. We are working to restore full access.

    If you experience continual access problems, please email info@healthcarelibrary.qub.ac.uk or click the ‘Report a Problem’ icon on Library Search for assistance.

    Thank you for your patience while we work to resolve this.

  • Altnagelvin Healthcare Library – Now open Saturdays and evenings

    The Healthcare Library at Altnagelvin Area Hospital is again open on Monday to Wednesday evenings until 8pm, and on Saturdays from 9.30pm to 1pm.
    Full opening hours can be found below and on the Healthcare Library website.

  • Struggling to stay up to date?

    We know it’s hard to keep on top of all that’s happening in the world of medicine.

    That’s why we issue our weekly Big 4 Current Awareness Bulletin. Each week we’ll send you links to the newest articles from the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, JAMA and NEJM straight into your inbox.

    Sound handy? Subscribing couldn’t be easier. Just email i.coghlan@qub.ac.uk to subscribe.

    You can see our latest issue here

    Here’s some feedback from current subscribers about the Big 4 bulletin:

  • The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland – August Bank Holiday

    The following Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland Library branches will be closed on Monday 28th August:

    The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Antrim Area Hospital

    The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Altnagelvin Area Hospital

    The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at Craigavon Area Hospital.

    Please be advised the Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at the Royal Victoria Hospital and the QUB Medical Biology Centre will be remain open on Monday 28th.

    All libraries will open as normal on Tuesday 29th August, as per our normal opening hours.

  • Update: Healthcare Library Search Changes

    Exciting improvements are on the horizon for our Healthcare Library services. As we gear up for positive changes, we want to provide you with important details about how these enhancements may affect your user experience.

    Please review our Healthcare Library Search Changes webpage, which includes the following information:

    • It will not be possible to place requests for items via the Library Catalogue using the ‘Loan request’ option from 9th August.
    • From 3pm on Friday 11th August to 16th August, physical loan items cannot be issued or returned at the self-service stations in the Library. You can bring items to the Borrower Service desks during this time, where Library staff will issue items for you or receive returns.

    Please contact your local branch if you need more information. Thank you for your understanding as we work to improve our service.

  • Opening Hours Changing: Healthcare Library at RVH

    From Monday 31st July, The Healthcare Library of Northern Ireland at the Royal Victoria Hospital will close at 5.00pm.

    Term-time hours (8.30am-6.30pm) will resume from the week beginning Monday 18th September.  

    If you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to contact us.
    Our telephone number is: 028 9097 6021
    Our email address is: Info@healthcarelibrary.qub.ac.uk

  • Healthcare Library Antrim – closed Thursday 20th July

    The Healthcare Library in Fern House at Antrim Area Hospital will be closed on Thursday 20th July 2023.

    Please email info@healthcarelibrary.qub.ac.uk if help is required when the library is closed.

    Returned books may be left in the Returns Box outside the library door.

    Our apologies for any inconvenience.