It is ironic that the week that the BMJ publishes an editorial on the
importance of accessing and critically appraising evidence, staff in NHS
Wales have lost the access to electronic databases and journals previously
available through the Health of Wales Information Service (HOWIS). This
appears to betray a lack of understanding of the importance of evidence
based decision making, both in clinical care and policy making. Sadly,
unless this decision is reversed, NHS Wales staff will indeed be reliant
on Google and Wikipedia for their evidence.
Competing interests:
I work in NHS Wales
Competing interests:
No competing interests
03 October 2008
Rosemary Fox
Deputy Director of Screening Services, Velindre NHS Trust
Rapid Response:
how shall we find the evidence?
It is ironic that the week that the BMJ publishes an editorial on the
importance of accessing and critically appraising evidence, staff in NHS
Wales have lost the access to electronic databases and journals previously
available through the Health of Wales Information Service (HOWIS). This
appears to betray a lack of understanding of the importance of evidence
based decision making, both in clinical care and policy making. Sadly,
unless this decision is reversed, NHS Wales staff will indeed be reliant
on Google and Wikipedia for their evidence.
Competing interests:
I work in NHS Wales
Competing interests: No competing interests