FAQ

The term evidence usually refers to ‘research evidence’ when used in the healthcare sector, learning from the publication of research findings or evaluation reports.

Health commissioners, for example, use a wide range of evidence to help decision making (eg activity data, research findings, best practice guidelines, population data, patient feedback).

Evidence is always gathered in a particular context, which means that evidence in itself can never be treated as a ‘universal truth’. The evidence doesn’t tell you what to decide, but it does help you make a better decision.

Yes, but proceed with caution! Google/Google Scholar are useful for carrying out an initial scoping search, to help focus down your area of interest, to define the question you want the evidence to answer.

Be mindful that Google will throw up all sorts of pieces of information, some much less reliable than others.

To focus your search, a tip is to use the following in the search box, at the end of your search terms: site:org.uk and site:nhs.uk – these will pull up results from websites with addresses ending ‘.org.uk’ and ‘.nhs.uk’, such as the Health Foundation, Kings Fund or NHS organisations (ICBs, hospital trusts etc).

If you identify a gap please contact us so we can let organisations who can address it know. These might include:

• Health Innovation West of England
• NIHR ARC West
• NIHR

See training section under Resources, which includes tutorial videos for searching for evidence.

Also check the ARC West training pages for up-coming workshops and video resources.

Take a look at the Appraise step of the evidence cycle for guidance in critically appraising evidence that you find.

A systematic review sums up the best available research on a specific question. This is done by synthesizing the results of several studies.

Critical appraisal is a systematic process used to identify the strengths and weaknesses of a research article in order to assess the usefulness and validity of research findings. More details are provided in the Appraise step of the evidence cycle.

It is difficult to put a set amount of time on this as there are a number of factors influencing the time needed to carry out the review.

The key piece of advice is to start thinking about your evidence needs early on, so you can be as clear as possible about the question or issue you are trying to answer with the evidence. This will make the search and review process much easier and ultimately quicker.

The Evidence Repository is a portal for safely sharing non-peer reviewed documents that are not published elsewhere to promote a culture of shared learning and collaboration.

Membership of the Evidence Repository is restricted to employees of the NHS, universities and public health. More information is available through Health Innovation West of England.