FAQs

All staff and students, both clinical and non-clinical, based at the following organisations can join the library for the duration of their employment or placement with the Trust:

• Mersey and West Lancashire Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust
• Primary Care and Integrated Care Board (ICB) staff in Halton, Knowsley or St Helens

Any other NHS staff and students who live in the area may use the library for reference.

Please complete the online registration form.

When you join the library we will send you an email containing a digital Library Barcode which is your membership number. We can also provide you with either a Library Card or a barcode sticker. This will enable you to reserve and renew your books online via the catalogue. You will also need these details to use the self-issue machine in the library. If you forget your login details, please contact the library team.

See our “What’s New” page to find out about new library books, resources, promotions and events as well as holiday opening hours and other activities. You can sign up to receive library news email alerts on our home page. You can also follow us on:

Southport (The Hanley Library): Library and Knowledge Service – Hanley Library
Clinical Education Centre
Southport Hospital
Town Lane, Southport PR8 6PN

Whiston: Library and Knowledge Service
Level 1, Nightingale House,
Whiston Hospital
Warrington Road, Prescot L35 5DR

Ormskirk: Library and Knowledge Service – Sanderson Library
Education Centre
Ormskirk Hospital
Wigan Road, Ormskirk L39 2AZ 

You can access MWL Libraries at the following times:

• Whiston: Monday – Thursday 09:00 – 17:00, Friday 09:00 – 16:45
• Southport: Monday – Friday 08:30 – 16:30 
• Ormskirk: Monday – Friday 08:30 -16:30 (Please note that Ormskirk Library is unstaffed)

24 hour access is available at all MWL Libraries with your Trust ID badge, contact the Library if you require access.

You can borrow up to 12 items at a time. Items are issued for a 4-week loan period and will be automatically renewed up to five times.

You can find out which books and e-books we have by searching the library catalogue. If you need help to search the catalogue please see our quick guide, or ask a member of the Library team.

Most books will automatically renew up to five times (unless someone else has reserved it). If you wish to renew them yourself there are a number of ways you can do this.

• You can log in to the catalogue with your Library Barcode and use the ‘renew’ option;
• Ask at a library helpdesk;
• Contact us using email or telephone; or
• Use the self-issue machines found in all MWL Libraries:
  • You will find detailed how-to guides next to the machines in each of the libraries
  • You will need your Library Barcode to do this, please contact the library team if you don't know what this is.

   

An easy way is to look for the book on the library catalogue and reserve it from there by logging in with your Library Barcode details. Alternatively, contact us and we can reserve it for you.

Yes, we can usually get 99% of books and articles from other libraries if we don’t hold it. You can request items by completing our article or book request form or by emailing the details to us at library@merseywestlancs.nhs.uk. We can obtain most articles within 5 working days, books may take a little longer to arrive.

We have both of these popular clinical decision support resources which enable you to find current evidence-based answers to your clinical questions.

Yes, we have BMJ Case Reports which lets you learn from real cases on common and rare conditions. The library has an institutional fellowship which means you can freely submit as many cases as you like. Contact the library for details.

You can return them in person at all MWL Libraries, just speak to a member of the Library team. Or, you can use a self-issue machine in the library. There is also a book return bin at all MWL Libraries where you can leave books. For those based off site, you can return books in the post.

Please note if we have borrowed a book from another library we prefer these to be collected and returned in person.

We have the Oxford handbook collection amongst other titles. You can find details and links in the library catalogue or you can go directly to e-books from our Resources page on the library website. You will need an OpenAthens account to access e-books, if you don’t have one you can register for one here. 

No, we also have a good range of management and leadership titles, as well as titles in the Wellbeing and Health Stories collections. These self-help books include titles on relaxation and mindfulness and lived experiences of grief and ill health.

For those who like to relax with a novel, we also have our Leisure Reading collection containing fiction, biographies and popular science titles. You can browse the entire NoW catalogue here.

OpenAthens is a secure log in system that gives you access to electronic resources purchased by the Trust as well as national NHS resources including books, journals and databases. All NHS staff are eligible to register for an NHS OpenAthens account.

To register for your NHS OpenAthens account please complete the form at https://openathens.nice.org.uk/. We recommend that you register from an NHS networked computer to ensure your account is authorised without delay.

You can also transfer your account from previous Trusts, see our NHS OpenAthens Quick Guide or get in touch with the library team and we can request a transfer.
 

If you can’t find or access the article you need you can request it for free by filling in our online form. We will send you the full text article via email as soon as we have it.

A literature (or evidence) search can support you in many aspects of work – whether to find answers to specific clinical or non-clinical queries or to provide evidence for potential changes to your practice or service.

To request a search, please complete the online form and provide as much information as possible. We will email the results to you within 10 working days.

We cannot undertake a literature search that will form part of assessed academic work but we would be happy to offer an assisted search instead. An assisted search is where a member of the team will work with you to perform the search, combining your expert knowledge with our skills on searching. Please contact us to arrange a suitable time and venue.
 

Yes! You can find out more on our current awareness page on how to stay in the know by signing up to regular bulletins and KnowledgeShare.

You can sign up for KnowledgeShare with an NHS OpenAthens account to receive tailored research, reports, guidance etc in your area of professional interest. Please go to KnowledgeShare and login with your NHS OpenAthens account to start.

If you need any help with this please contact the library.

We have guides available to help you access our online resources. We also offer one-to-one, group and virtual training.

With a trust ID badge and login you can print, scan or photocopy documents in the Library. You will be able to print black and white copies only on A4 or A3 paper. The default is set to duplex (double-sided) printing.

If you need help, please ask a member of the Library team.

If you are a member of staff or a student you can access PCs at all MWL Libraries using your own login details.

There are 22 PCs available at Whiston Hospital library on a walk-in basis, although PCs can be reserved if you wish, Just ask the library staff.

There 6 PCs available at Southport Hospital on a walk-in basis. There are also 2 laptop docking stations, but these only work with Trust laptops.

Ormskirk Hospital has 5 PCs available on a walk-in basis.

There are study spaces available at all MWL Libraries, many with power sockets for charging personal devices. Please do not trail cables from sockets to other study desks as this may cause a tripping hazard.

Free Wi-Fi is available.

For free Wi-Fi select, NHS Wi-Fi and connect. Follow the on-screen instructions to register.

Alternatively, you can access the Eduroam or Govroam networks with appropriate login details.

Community staff based in Halton, Knowsley and St Helens and ICB staff who don’t have time to come to the library at Whiston Hospital during our 9-5 staffed opening hours can access library services in a number of other ways including 24 hour access to the library (you need to be a member of the library to have 24 hour access).

We are also able to send and receive library books by mail.

Most of our services are available through our website including

• Literature Searches 
• Current Awareness 
• Journal article supply
• Full text journals 
• Our Outreach Librarian can bring the library to you, either by visiting you in your workplace or virtually.

For community staff in Southport and Ormskirk, outreach services are provided by the Merseycare library.

This service is designed to bring the Knowledge and Library Service to all staff. If you are busy caring for patients and unable to find the time to get away from your ward or department, then the Clinical Librarian can help you by:

• Working directly with your team/ department
• Attending departmental meetings/ assisting with projects
• Helping with journal clubs and carrying out critical appraisal training
• Running individual or group training sessions on literature searching and online resources
• Carrying out evidence searches
• Keeping your team up to date via our current awareness service

Contact the Clinical Librarian here.