NHS library services for Devon General Practice and primary care professionals

This site is maintained and hosted by Discovery Library, Derriford Hospital and gives details of selected General Practice content available to Devon General Practice and ICB staff, and all other staff / students on placement across the Plymouth and SWASFT health community.

Visit our main library website

See our clinical specialty pages

If you have problems or comments / suggestions about resources please email library.mailbox@nhs.net 

OpenAthens accounts

Register for a NHS England OpenAthens account 

  • For Devon general practice and ICB staff: Under 'Please enter your organisation' type in 'Devon' and select 'Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon'.

  • For GP trainees based in acute and community hospitals: Under 'Please enter your organisation' enter your acute or community organisation i.e. University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust, Livewell Southwest

Please use an NHS email address to register if you have one - once registered you can access content anywhere.

How to literature search for articles on a subject (Databases)

Databases

Databases: contain bibliographic records about articles

Whilst you won't have full text access to all the articles referenced, where we have a subscription there will be a link to the article and where we don't there will be an article request option.

If you need an search assistance or 1-to-1 training on the use of resources please contact the Discovery Library.

You can also undertake NHS Learning Hub Literature Searching elearning modules  - you will need an NHS OpenAthens account to access.

 


 

NHS England subscribed healthcare databases

Search the NHS England subscribed healthcare databases below :

To access the NHS subscribed databases you will need an NHS Athens account.

 


 

Cochrane Library

Search Cochrane Library.

Collection of databases incl:

  • Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

  • Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL)

  • Cochrane Clinical Answers

that can be searched simultaneously and contain different types of high-quality, independent evidence to inform healthcare decision-making.

 


 

PubMed

Search PubMed. A free resource which contains more than 33 million citations and abstracts of biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books.

Search via your organisation:

The above link includes a local organisation logo on the right-hand side of each record. Clicking the logo will check article availability or offer a request form.

To access the content linked you will need an NHS Athens account.

 


 

NHS Library and Knowledge Hub

Search NHS Library and Knowledge Hub (Help)

Whilst it is advisable to search the databases above for more detailed and systematic searches, the NHS Knowledge and Library Hub can be used for more simple searches to find a couple of papers on a simple topic.

To access content on the Library and Knowledge Hub you will need an NHS Athens account.

 

 

How to search for evidence and best practice on a topic

A range of evidence-based and other resources available to help inform patient care or support your study including:

 

BMJ Best Practice

BMJ Best Practice

View BMJ Help and training resources

Evidence-based research, guidelines and expert opinion offering step-by-step guidance on diagnosis, prognosis, treatment and prevention.

On 1st access you’ll be asked to create a personal account to download the free App - you will need a local NHS OpenAthens account.

 


 

ClinicalKey

ClinicalKey

Clinical insight search tool which also gives access to over 1100 electronic books and 500 journals and other fulltext resources

Note you will need a local NHS OpenAthens account

 


 

Clinical Knowledge Summaries

Clinical Knowledge Summaries (provided by NICE)

Summaries of the current evidence base & practical guidance on best practice for >300 primary care presentations and regular updates to all topics

 


 

Trip Pro Database

Trip Pro Database

Clinical search tool designed to allow health professionals to rapidly identify the highest quality clinical evidence for clinical practice.

 


 

UpToDate

UpToDate

‘an evidence-based clinical decision support resource authored by physicians to help healthcare practitioners make the best decisions at the point of care’. 

Note you will need a UHP OpenAthens account. UHP staff or students register for a OpenAthens account. 
(available to University Hospitals Plymouth NHS Trust only).

 

How to find fulltext of a specific article

To access articles you will need a NHS OpenAthens account.

To search for availability of articles use the following options:

For each option you should either be able to

  • Access the fulltext of the article where we have a subscription to journal or

  • Complete a form to request a copy of an article not held

 

 

Article title

Search for the Article title via the Knowledge and Library Hub

If you have the article title please copy and paste into the main search box of the hub.

If the title is a short title using common healthcare terms, then you might want to add the Author name and/or Journal title to the search to specify your chosen article.

Find further help on the Knowledge and Library Hub

Screenshot of the search function on the Knowledge and Library Hub

 

 

Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PubMed ID (PMID)

Search for the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PubMed ID (PMID) via LibKey

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

A Digital Object Identifier (DOI)  is a string of numbers, letters and symbols used to permanently identify an article or document and link to it on the web.

It is usually in the format: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-022-05043-y

The bit in italics which starts all DOIs can be ignored - please copy and paste the rest of your specific into the search box.

PubMed identifier (PMID)

A PubMed identifier (PMID) is a unique value assigned to each PubMed record usually 8 digits long.

Screenshot of LibKey site, highlighting the 'Choose your organisation' field and DOI search box

On the LibKey site, under 'Choose your organisation', type in one of the following and select option:

  • Plymouth: for University Hospitals Plymouth

  • Devon: for Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon - this includes Livewell Southwest and Plymouth GP staff/students

  • South Western: for SWASFT

 

 

Journal title

Search for the journal title using BrowZine

The search only includes journals for which organisation has a subscription.

If a journal is embargoed the embargoed article will still be listed but when you click to access content you will receive a article request form rather than the fulltext.

Screenshot of BrowZine site showing the Choose Library field and journal title search

On the BrowZine site, under 'Choose Library', type in one of the following and select option:

  • Plymouth: for University Hospitals Plymouth

  • Devon: for Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon - this includes Livewell Southwest and Plymouth GP staff/students

  • South Western: for SWASFT

 

 

Browser extension

Browser extension to check all scholarly pages for local access via Nomad

Screenshot of webpage showing browser extension with article link

After adding the extension, under 'Select Organization', type in one of the following and select option:

  • Plymouth: for University Hospitals Plymouth

  • Devon: for Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon - this includes Livewell Southwest and Plymouth GP staff/students

  • South Western: for SWASFT

Please note:

On University Hospitals Plymouth and Livewell SW networked machines IT have already made Nomad automatically available via Microsoft Edge. You will need to manually download to any other browsers you use on NHS Personal Device

Selected General Practice and Community Medicine journals

If we don’t hold your required article you can consider making an article request via the library.

 

Selected General Practice and Community Medicine journals
Journal Coverage  Notes
BMC Family Practice  2000-  
BMC Public Health 2001-  
BMJ 1840-  
BMJ Quality and Safety 1840-  
British Journal of Community Nursing  1996-  
British Journal of Healthcare Assistants 2007-  
British Journal of Healthcare Management 1998-  
British Journal of Nursing 1992-  
Community Practitioner  2000-  
Evidence-Based Medicine 1998-  
Evidence-Based Nursing 2000-  
Family Practice Management 2007-  
GP: General Practitioner 2003-  
Independent Nurse 2005-  
Journal of Community Nursing 2004-  
Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 1947-  
Journal of Health Visiting 2013-  
Journal of Medical Ethics 1975-  
Journal of Prescribing Practice 2003-  
Lancet 2007-  
New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) 1990-  
Nursing 2002-  
Nursing Times 2005- If asked to ‘Find your institution’
enter NHS in England
Practice Management  2014-  
Practice Nursing 1996-  
Practitioner 1998-  
Primary Care: Clinics in Office Practice  2007-  
Primary Care Diabetes 2007-  
Primary Care Respiratory Journal 2000-  
Primary Health Care 2001-  
Public Health 2007-  

 

How to find print and electronic books

SWIMS Library Catalogue

 

Screenshot of SWIMS Library catalogue search

 

Go to SWIMS Library Catalogue

This is a regional NHS catalogue, so in location select ‘Plymouth, Derriford Hospital, PLY’ to limit your search to print books held at Discovery Library, Derriford. The shelfmark will correspond with shelf in library collection.

If you are unable to visit the library in person please email library.mailbox@nhs.net to request postal delivery of required book(s)

You can also log in and renew your books (if you have not already made a pin number for your library account follow the instructions on screen).

If we don’t have the book you require you can consider making a book request. This service is for registered borrowers, undertaking NHS work. Register for a library account

Ebooks

Select your location based on your organisation:

  • Plymouth, Derriford Hospital, PLY (for UHP, Livewell and Devon GP and ICB staff)

  • South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust SWASFT

You will need an NHS OpenAthens login to access ebooks.

 

Selected General Practice ebooks

Click on the ebook title and login with your NHS Athens account

Always select to login with OpenAthens account

 

Selected General Practice ebooks
Title Date Edition 1st author
100 Cases in General Practice 2017 2 Stephenson
ABC of Wound Healing 2022 2 Price
Achieving High Quality Care: Practical Experience from NICE 2014   Leng
Adventures in human being 2016   Francis
Assessing Mental Capacity : A Handbook to Guide Professionals from Basic to Advanced Practice 2020   Mackenzie
Being a Doctor : Understanding Medical Practice 2014   Wilson
Being mortal: illness, medicine and what matters in the end 2014   Gawande
Breaking Bad News : A Pocket Guide for Nursing and Health Care 2024   Oakley
Breaking Bad News : A ten step approach 2023 Updated Kaye
Can Medicine Be Cured?: the corruption of a profession. 2019   O’Mahony
The Clinical Encounter : A Philosophical Analysis 2025   Mercuri
Clinical Procedures in Primary Eye Care 2021 5 Elliott
A clinician’s brief guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2015 2 Brindle
Collaborative practice in primary and community care 2020   Ahluwalia
Community Palliative Care and COVID-19 2020   Blackmore
Conflict, Culture and Identity in GP Training 2022   Johnston
Contraception made easy 2023 3 Percy

Dermatology for the Primary Care Provider

2022   Waldman
Developing reflective practice: a guide for medical students, doctors and teachers 2017   Grant
Differential Diagnosis of Common Complaints 2018 7 Seller
Essential primary care. 2017   Blythe
Essential procedures for emergency, urgent, and primary care settings : a clinical companion 2022 3 Campo
A Flourishing Practice? 2014   Toon
Fracture management for primary care and emergency medicine 2020 4th Eiff
General Practice at a Glance 2013   Booton
General Practice Cases at a Glance 2017   Cooper
General practice nursing: foundational principles 2019   Duncan
A good life to the end: taking control of our inevitable journey through ageing and death 2019
rev ed
  Hillman
GP Consultation Reimagined : A tale of two houses 2020   Brunet
GP Wellbeing: combatting burnout in general practice 2018   Staten
Guide to Staff Employment in General Practice 2015   Milligan
A Guide to Supporting Breastfeeding for the Medical Profession. 2019   Brown
Ham’s Primary Care Geriatrics 2022 7 Warshaw
History Taking in Clinical Practice 2023   Mahbubani
Hot Topics in Financial and Legal Matters for General Practice 2015   Gilbert
How to Read a Paper : The Basics of Evidence-Based Healthcare 2025 7 Greenhalgh
Independent Prescribing for General Practice Nurses 2021   Blaber
Individualised Diabetes Management: a guide for primary care 2016   Barnett
Integrated Care : Reflections on Change in Health Services 2022   Kaehne
Intelligent Kindness : Rehabilitating the Welfare State (2020 2nd ed)

See also 1st ed 2010
Intelligent kindness : reforming the culture of healthcare
2020 2 Ballatt
The Long Covid Self-Help Guide : Practical Ways to Manage Symptoms 2022   Oxford Post-Covid Clinic
Managing Anxiety Disorders in Primary Care 2020   David
Marsden Manual 2020 10  
Medical Mentoring : Supporting students, doctors in training and general practitioners 2014   Jeffery
Mental Health Effects of Covid-19 2021   Moustafa
The minor illness manual 2024 6 Johnson
Minor illness or major disease? 2016 6 Addison
Minor surgery at a glance 2017   Mohan
Oxford handbook of Clinical Medicine 2024 11 Wilkinson
Oxford Handbook of General Practice 2020 5 Simon
Oxford Handbook of Primary Care and Community Nursing 2021 3 Brook
See our Oxford University ebooks page for other Oxford Handbooks      
Pfenninger and Fowler’s procedures for primary care 2020 4 Fowler
A practical guide to the Mental Capacity Act 2005 : putting the principles of the Act into practice. 2015   Graham
Practice accounts made easy 2019 3 Tudor
Prescribing in General Practice 2018   Harris
Primary Care for Paramedics 2023   Eaton
Psychiatry Algorithms for Primary Care  2021   Gulati
Public health and epidemiology at a glance 2016 2 Somerville
Public health and health promotion for nurses at a glance 2019   Wild
Recovery : The Lost Art of Convalescence 2022   Francis
Royal Marsden Manual of Clinical Nursing Procedures 2020 10  
Rural Healthcare 2023 2 Cox
Sexual health and contraception : a quick reference guide for primary care clinicians 2024   Proctor
The Social Prescribing Link Worker Model : Insights and Perspectives from Practice 2024   Melam
Supporting Tobacco Cessation 2021   Ravara
Telephone Assessment in Primary Care : A practical guide to effective consultation and triage 2024   Pygall
Telephone triage care 2018   Hunter
Textbook of Family Medicine 2016 9 Rakel
The textbook of non-medical prescribing. 2020 3 Nuttall
The way we die now 2016   O’Mahony
Working with asylum seekers and refugees: what to do, what not to do, and how to help 2019   Crowther
Working with Vulnerable Groups : A clinical handbook for GPs 2014   Gill
Wound care at a glance 2020 2 Peate

 

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