This site is maintained and hosted by Discovery Library, Derriford Hospital and gives details of selected content available in Quality Improvement and Patient Safety for staff / students on placement across the Plymouth and SWASFT health community and Primary Care and ICB staff in Devon
Visit our main library website
If you have problems or comments / suggestions about resources please email library.mailbox@nhs.net
18/08/2025 New ebook content added
Quality Measurement in Healthcare
Note: you will need a local NHS OpenAthens account to access
26/06/2025 New ebook content added
Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health and Social Care : An Applied Approach
Note: you will need a local NHS OpenAthens account to access
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.
Search the NHS England subscribed healthcare databases below :
CINAHL (via Ebsco)- nursing and allied health~
Embase (via Ovid) - biomedical and pharmaceutical literature
Emcare (via Ovid) - nursing and allied health
HMIC (via Ovid) - healthcare management
Medline (via EBSCO) - biomedical, life sciences, allied health and pre-clinical sciences literature
Medline (via Ovid) - biomedical, life sciences, allied health and pre-clinical sciences literature
Social Policy and Practice (via Ovid) - health and social care
To access the NHS subscribed databases you will need an NHS Athens account.
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.
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.
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.
A range of evidence-based and other resources available to help inform patient care or support your study including:
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.
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 (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
Clinical search tool designed to allow health professionals to rapidly identify the highest quality clinical evidence for clinical practice.
‘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).
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
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
Search for the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or PubMed ID (PMID) via LibKey
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.
A PubMed identifier (PMID) is a unique value assigned to each PubMed record usually 8 digits long.
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
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.
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 to check all scholarly pages for local access via Nomad
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
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
If we don’t hold your required article you can consider making an article request via the library.
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
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.
Click on the ebook title and login with your NHS Athens account
The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety : Defining the Path to Inclusion and Innovation
ABC of quality improvement in healthcare
Accelerating performance : how organizations can mobilize, execute, and transform with agility
Achieving high quality care : practical experience from NICE.
Accelerating health care transformation with lean and innovation : the Virginia Mason experience.
Advance your emergency department : leading in a new era.
Anti-burnout: How to Create a Psychologically Safe and High-performance Organisation
Appreciative inquiry handbook : for leaders of change
Becoming the Change: Leadership Behavior Strategies for Continuous Improvement in Healthcare
The Big Picture: How to Use Data Visualization to Make Better Decisions-Faster
Building a Culture of Patient Safety Through Simulation : An Interprofessional Learning Model
Building Safer Healthcare Systems : A Proactive, Risk Based Approach to Improving Patient Safety
Collaboration-based approaches (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Comprehensive Healthcare Simulation: Improving Healthcare Systems
Co-Producing and Co-Designing (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Creating a Lean Culture : Tools to Sustain Lean Conversions
The creative mindset : mastering the six skills that empower innovation
Disrupt Yourself : Master Relentless Change and Speed Up Your Learning Curve
Effective change manager’s handbook : essential guidance to the change management body of knowledge.
Essential Simulation in Clinical Education
The Field Guide to Understanding ‘Human Error’
Frugal Innovation : how to do more with less
Governance and leadership (Elements of improving quality & safety in healthcare series)
The Health Care Data Guide : Learning from Data for Improvement
Health design thinking : creating products and services for better health
Hospital transformation: from failure to success and beyond
How to reduce overuse in healthcare
Human Factors and Ergonomics in Health and Social Care : An Applied Approach
Human Factors in Healthcare: Level One
Human Factors in Surgery : Enhancing Safety and Flow in Patient Care
Human factors in the healthcare setting : a pocket guide for clinical instructors
Implementation Science (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Implementation Science in Nursing : A Framework from Education and Practice
Implementing Patient Safety: Addressing Culture, Conditions, and Values to Help People Work Safely
Improving patient care : the implementation of change in health care
Improving patient safety: tools and strategies for quality improvement
Improving Surgical Skills and Outcomes : A Multi-Perspective Approach
Innovations in Healthcare Management : Cost-Effective and Sustainable Solutions
Intelligent Kindness : Rehabilitating the Welfare State (2020 2nd ed)
Intelligent Kindness : reforming the culture of healthcare (2010 1st ed)
Launching and Leading Change Initiatives in Health Care Organizations : Managing Successful Projects
Leading for organisational change: building purpose, motivation and belonging
Leading health care transformation : a primer for clinical leaders.
Leading high-reliability organizations in healthcare
Leading in a culture of change
Leading successful change: 8 keys to making change work
Lean Prescription : Powerful Medicine for Our Ailing Healthcare System
Lean six sigma business transformation for dummies.
The learning imperative: raising performance in organisations by improving learning
Leveraging Lean in the Emergency Department : Creating a Cost Effective, Standardized, High Quality, Patient-Focused Operation
A Life in Error : From Little Slips to Big Disasters
Limits of expertise : rethinking pilot error and the causes of airline accidents.
Making culture change happen (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Managing benefits : optimizing the return from investments
Managing Quality: an Essential Guide and Resource Gateway
Mistake Proofing for Lean Healthcare
Naked Safety : Exploring the Dynamics of Safety in a Fast-Changing World
Operational research approaches (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Organizational Innovation by Integrating Simplification: Learning from Buurtzorg Nederland
Organised Wellbeing: Proven and Practical Lessons from Safety Excellence
Oxford Professional Practice: Handbook of Patient Safety
Oxford Professional Practice: Handbook of Quality Improvement in Healthcare
Patient-Reported Outcomes and Experience : Measuring What We Want from PROMs and PREMs
Patient safety and healthcare improvement at a glance
Patient Safety : A Case-Based Innovative Playbook for Safer Care
Patient Safety : A Human Factors Approach
Patient Safety : Emerging Applications of Safety Science
Patient Safety : Perspectives on Evidence, Information and Knowledge Transfer
Pocket Guide to Quality Improvement in Healthcare
Positive Deviance Approach (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Power of Ideas to Transform Healthcare : Engaging Staff by Building Daily Lean Management Systems
Problem solving for healthcare workers: how to get better - lessons can be learned
The project book: the complete guide to consistently delivering great projects.
Project management checklists for dummies.
Project management for dummies
Project Management in Health and Community Services : Getting Good Ideas to Work
Psychological Safety : The key to happy, high-performing people and teams
Quality and safety in neurosurgery
Quality by Design : A Clinical Microsystems Approach
The Quality Improvement Challenge : A Practical Guide for Physicians
Quality Measurement in Healthcare
Quality Measures : The Revolution in Patient Safety and Outcomes
Quantitative analysis for decision makers
Reducing overuse (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
Restorative Practice at Work : Six Habits for Improving Relationships in Healthcare Settings
Rethinking patient safety (up to 3 simultaneous users)
Root Cause Analysis : The Core of Problem Solving and Corrective Action
SAGES Manual of Quality, Outcomes and Patient Safety
Simulation as an improvement technique
Textbook of Patient Safety and Clinical Risk Management (Open access publication)
Transformative Change Pocketbook
Transforming health care : Virginia Mason Medical Center’s pursuit of the perfect patient experience
Workplace conditions (Elements of improving quality and safety in healthcare)
