From the ground up: building health literacy awareness in North-East London.

Natasha Howard, Head of Knowledge and Library Services at North East London NHS Foundation Trust (NELFT) and Kaye Bagshaw, Head of Library & Knowledge Services at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust

Abstract

North-East London is one of the most diverse and deprived areas of the country. Health inequalities are rife. Since 2013 NHS librarians have worked to raise health literacy awareness across the health and care system. The talk describes how we moved from working independently to collaborating across the system. We will talk about our work so far and our hopes and plans for the future.

Biography

Kaye Bagshaw is the Head of Library and Knowledge Services at Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. She joined the Trust in 2009 after a period of self-employment working as a freelance researcher. Prior to that she had a variety of library roles at the RIBA and the Wellcome Institute.  She also worked on a 3-year research project looking at the history of public library architecture.

Kaye is passionate about collaboration, engagement and spreading the word about the importance of evidence and the power of reading. She runs a work-based book group and helps organise regular well-being and other staff events.

Kaye has a French Degree and a Post-graduate Diploma in Library and Information Studies.

Natasha is Head of Knowledge & Library Services at NELFT NHS Trust. Prior to NELFT she worked for a start-up in the City and at a healthcare charity; she has over 20 years of experience in the library and information sector and was joint winner of the CILIP K&IM and UKeIG Information Manager of the Year Award 2020.

Natasha is passionate about health inequalities and health and digital literacy. Natasha is a trustee of Success For All Educational Trust (SFAET), a multi academy school trust. In her spare time she enjoys running (slowly) and can often be found participating and volunteering at local parkruns.

Natasha holds a BSc. in Geography from King’s College London and MA in Information Studies; she is a Fellow of the CILIP: the Library and Information Association.

Summer Conference 2025: Stop! Collaborate and Listen: Partnerships in Libraries

UHMLG’s 2025 Summer Conference brings together a range of fantastic speakers to look at partnerships within libraries. The conference is taking place in person at the Hive in Worcester and spans two half days (13-14 June, 2025). Our core audience is UK / Republic of Ireland health and medical librarians from the Higher Education and NHS / health sectors, but we welcome delegates from any area of librarianship, and from anywhere in the world.

More information / Book your place

For full information about the conference, and to book your place, please visit our Summer Conference 2025 page.