Brighton and Sussex university hospitals NHS Trust

The main library is situated at the Audrey Emerton Building, Royal Sussex County Hospital. It is one of the largest and busiest in south Thames and has been assessed as “outstanding” by the Regional Director of Library Services. It has approximately 30,000 books as well as a collection of electronic books. Approximately 300 printed journals are available, as well as a large collection of electronic journals covering all clinical areas. There is an interlibrary loans service and 24 access to the library for members. Many databases, including Medline, Cochrane and Embase, are available to users, or searches can be carried out by helpful and friendly librarians, who have been trained in searching for evidence-based material. The Internet is available in the library and there is access to Microsoft Office, including Word and Powerpoint. The library’s website www.bsuh.nhs.uk/library includes links to databases eg. PubMed (Medline) and The Cochrane Library, 1400 electronic journals, book catalogues, electronic books, Royal Colleges and information on how to critically appraise the literature. Photocopying and printing facilities are available in the library. Library staff offer training in one-to-one or group sessions in the workplace on the following: searching the Internet at introductory and intermediate level, searching evidence-based sources on the Internet, electronic journals and electronic books and literature searching techniques on healthcare databases. Training on critical appraisal skills is also available on a small group basis.

There is a library at Princess Royal Hospital with 24 hour access available to members. The library holds a diverse range of books and reports, over 140 print journals, databases, electronic journals and electronic books.

There is 24 access to a small library at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. The library is managed by a part-time professional librarian and has a collection of current books (for reference only) and 2 computers giving access to the Internet and Microsoft Office