National Knowledge Service background

The National Knowledge Service (NKS) was set up in response to the 'Kennedy' enquiry into cardiothoracic surgery in Bristol. In that response, the Secretary of State stated that one of the steps would be the development of a National Knowledge Service to ensure that both patients and clinicians could have access to best current knowledge wherever and whenever it was needed.

Paragraph 13 of the Executive Summary of the Department of Health's response to the Public Inquiry into the events at Bristol Royal Infirmary describes "a National Knowledge Service for the NHS to support the delivery of high quality information for patients and staff".

The Director of Research and Development at the time, Sir John Pattison, set up a group to develop the National Knowledge Service (NKS). Sir Muir Gray is in overall charge of the National Knowledge Service.

The National Knowledge Service covers clinical practice, healthcare, social care, and public health; the users have been identified as being patients and the public, clinicians, managers, and public health professionals. The National Knowledge Service is committed to facilitating the co-coordinating of all those publicly funded activities which generate, procure, organise, mobilise, localise or promote the use of knowledge. NKS projects are being conducted for tuberculosis, oral health, diabetes, breast cancer and congestive heart failure.

The NKS commissioned the HPA to undertake the tuberculosis project, led by Professor Mike Catchpole.

Last reviewed: 10 February 2010