BSUH Library and Knowledge Service is one of the most active NHS library services in the country. It works to facilitate evidence-based decision-making for staff at RSCH, PRH and Mill View hospitals, public health in the local authority and everybody else in the local health economy.
With over 15 years working as a library professional, Igor Brbre is a real asset to the team. As one of three clinical librarians at the Trust, his job is to provide evidence services to the clinical teams to help improve patient care, hence his nomination and award of the BSUH Star of the Month:
“As a first year student of the Advanced Clinical Practice MSc.,Igor and members of the library team have helped me learn about search strategies, and become competent in using them. As I struggle with digital technologies, Igor demonstrated the skill of a true teacher, being patient and building my confidence, allowing me to practice learnt skills in a safe envirionment.The library staff go above and beyond the call of duty. They are the foundation of excllent teaching in the trust.
“By helping me with my learning Igor and the library team have contributed towards making me a better clinician who can provide an outstanding service to patients. They have exceeded the trust’s values. “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn.” Benjamin Franklin’s quote sums up the approach Igor has used to help me, and thereby make me an asset to the trust”.
Clinical librarians also sit on governance groups and inform everything from workforce transformation to product selection in the hospital.
Igor himself serves under two different directorates, Children’s Services (Neonatology and Paediatrics) and Women’s Services (Maternity, Obstetrics, Gynaecology) so his time is very limited but the BSUH Communications Team managed to get five minutes with him to find out more about what he does …
How long have you been working at the Trust in this role and what does your role involve?
I’ve been working here for over three and a half years now. Prior to this I was a systems librarian at Health Education for Scotland, in Glasgow.
The clinical librarian is a specialist role because you are assigned to clinical teams. I participate in clinical meetings and assist in finding answers to any questions that arise. We help with providing evidence that helps the medical team to carry out appropriate patient care.
Have you faced any challenges whilst you’ve been working here?
Getting to grips with the sometimes arcane medical language used in meetings, to be able to understand and follow the discussions, was a huge effort at the beginning. Also, winding down after mortality and mobility meetings can be hard. The discussions can be difficult. You are not directly involved, as a clinical librarian, but it makes you realise how important your input can be. Often my input has enabled the clinical team to diagnose conditions or choose the most appropriate treatments.
What’s the best thing about your role?
Every single day is different; you have to juggle your own schedule of meetings and the demands of the clinical teams you’re assigned to, along with making time for evidence searches and teaching colleagues to find or evaluate research.
I love the variety of the role and sometimes it’s a last-minute search where you are asked for some essential information for a consultant and you have limited time to find this. Sometimes I’m asked for something outside of my working hours, and they say that I’m not expected to answer, but I feel that if I can, I need to get them what they need in a timely manner. At the end of the day my clinical teams work around the clock and it’s not a problem for me.
Essentially I really enjoy working towards helping patients. Providing clinicians with evidence, and thereby facilitating evidence-based medicine, is very rewarding. In some situations it can literally be a matter of life and death, so you have to always stay on the “top of your game” to be able to provide the missing piece of the puzzle promptly to help the clinical teams make a decision.
What’s your highlight of working at the BSUH Trust?
The highlight for me is obviously getting the Star of the Month Award. It is a recognition of all the efforts myself and my colleagues in the Library and Knowledge Service put into patient care. I was really pleased. Apart from this, I feel very proud that I have been able to rise to the challenge of the role and that the hospital staff values our contribution so highly.
What do you do outside of work?
My partner and I have an infant son and we dedicate all our time and attention to him. Also, being a clinical librarian and a researcher I’m always learning. I love library and information science and I’m using as much of my spare time as I can to follow the developments in the field. When there is any time left I go for a run.
Congratulations and a big thank you Igor from all the Library & Knowledge Team!
Igor Brbre and Tom Roper, our Clinical Librarians, recently attended the European Association for Health Information and Libraries (EAHIL) workshop in Basel. They presented a Continuing Education Course, Tips and Tricks for Clinical Librarians, to a group including delegates from Poland, Estonia, Germany, Switzerland and France, all of whom are considering setting up clinical librarian services.
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