Guidance and evidence
Sources of up to date and trustworthy evidence and guidance relevant to the treatment and management of Coronavirus (COVID-19) for health and care staff.
- Guidance for health and social care professionals
- Guidance for specific populations and staff groups
- Guidance for the public
- Request a COVID-19 literature search
- How to find evidence, guidance and research
- Clinical evidence summaries and reviews
- Free-to-access research
- Epidemiological information
Updated 29 December 2020
Guidance for health and social care professionals
General guidance
- Doctors of the World - Coronavirus: latest UK guidelines translated into 51 languages
- Healthcare Improvement Scotland - COVID-19: Evidence for Scotland: reliable resources for NHSScotland
- Health Protection Scotland - COVID-19 information
- Health Education England - Coronavirus (COVID-19) learning programme (Warning- this programme includes infection control learning that does not match the Scottish Guidance)
- Humand Factors response - Ventilator design/How to design usable and safe work procedures to reduce risk at work
- MedicineGov - Curated video playlist on COVID-19 topics for clinicians (on YouTube via NHS Networks)
- National Wellbeing Hub - For people working in Health and Social Care
- NES/SSSC Guidance for employers on core training for redeployed workers, temporary workers and volunteers
- NICE - Coronavirus (COVID-19) rapid guidelines and evidence reviews
- NIHR Innovation Observatory - daily updates of clinical trials for COVID-19 treatments
- SCIE - Coronavirus (COVID-19) advice for social care
- UKGovt - Revised Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) guidance
- WHO - EPI-WIN: Information Network for Epidemics
- WHO - Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) technical guidance
- WHO - Health Alert: COVID-19 facts via WhatsApp
Scottish Government
- Coronavirus (COVID-19): framework for decision making: Scotland's route map through and out of the crisis
- COVID-19 guidance: full list of all guidance produced by Scottish Government
- Coronavirus (COVID-19) Phase 3: guidance on re-opening school age childcare services
Guidance for specific populations and staff groups
Healthcare staff
- Barbour - Coronavirus: Health and safety news, statutory inspections and home working guidance
- British Dietetic Association - COVID-19 guidance for dietitians
- Centre of Evidence Based Dermatology - Coronavirus Resource for Dermatology
- European Respiratory Society (ERS) - COVID-19 Resource centre
- Faculty of General Dental Practice (FGDP) - Implications of COVID-19 for the safe management of general dental practice - a practical guide
- Health and Care Professions Council - COVID-19 hub
- ICM Anaesthesia - Intensive care medicine understanding and management of Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Medicines and Healthcare products - MHRA guidance on COVID-19
- NICE - Clinical Specialty guides
- Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC) - Coronavirus (COVID-19) information and advice
- Palliative Care guidelines - temporary guidelines for symptom management related to COVID-19
- Palliative Drugs - collated list of resources for COVID-19 in palliative care
- Queen's Nursing Institute (QNI) - Resources and links for community nurses and allied health professionals
- Resuscitation Council UK - Guidance on COVID-19 (Coronavirus), CPR and Resuscitation
- Royal College of Emergency Care (RCEM) - COVID-19 Emergency Care clinical guidance, learning and resources
- Royal College General Practitioners Learning - COVID-19 Resource Hub
- Royal College of Nursing - COVID-19 Resource centre for articles, learning modules and clinical guidance
- Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists - Coronavirus (COVID-19) infection and pregnancy
- Royal College of Occupational Therapists - Staying well when social distancing guidance for individuals, families with children and occupational therapists
- Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health - COVID-19 guidance for paediatric services
- Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh - COVID-19 Hub - updates, talks and support
- RCPE clinical resources - ICU online course, eLearning and specialty guidance
- Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) - Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pharmacist updates and information
- Scottish Government - Coronavirus (COVID-19): nursing and community health staff guidance
Social services and care staff
- ALLIANCE - information and resources for disabled people, people with long term conditions, third sector and carers
- ALLIANCE - Managing wellbeing at home
- British Geriatrics Society - Coronavirus (COVID-19) and older people
- Care Inspectorate - COVID-19 FAQs
- Care Inspectorate - Supporting people to keep in touch when care homes are not accepting visitors
- Carers UK - Information for carers
- Communities Channel Scotland - support and ideas for community responses
- Health Protection Scotland - COVID-19 Information & guidance for social or community care & residential settings
- IRISS - Coronavirus (COVID-19) National and international resources for social services practitioners
- IRISS - Curate and Connect: special collections of Iriss resources based on topics at the forefront of the Covid-19 crisis
- IRISS - Responsive technical help for social work or social care sector during lockdown: send your technical queries
- Luminate - Online programme of creative activities aimed at older people during the coronavirus outbreak
- NICE - Helping to prevent infection: A quick guide for managers and staff in care homes
- NSPCC - COVID-19 and keeping children safe from abuse
- Scottish Association for Social Workers - COVID-19 guidance
- Scottish Commission for Learning Disability - Coronavirus information and guidance for people living with learning disabilities
- SCVO - COVID-19 third sector information hub
- SSSC - Coronavirus (COVID-19) information for social service workers and employers
- Who Cares? Scotland - COVID-19 support for care experienced community
- Women's Aid - COVID-19 safety advice for domestic abuse survivors
- Young Scot - COVID-19 information and advice for young people aged 11-26 in Scotland
Guidance for the public
Scotland
UK-wide
- UK Government - guidance for everyone
- NHS
- Foreign & Commonwealth Office - travel advice
- Health Watch UK - simple summaries of COVID-19 evidence reviews
- British Psychological Society - tips, advice and links for the public to help with effects of the coronavirus pandemic
International
How to find evidence and research
Need to quickly find good quality evidence related to COVID-19?
Contact your local NHSScotland Library Service to request literature searches on a range of topics from trustworthy sources, conducted by expert searchers.
Check the Knowledge Network for current information on Library Services.
Use the Knowledge Network Library Search (for health and social care staff in Scotland) to find research and evidence.
Register for a NHSScotland OpenAthens username to access all NES subscriptions for free.
This short instructional video shows you how to get started - see our Help pages for more guidance and the Information Skills training tab for support.
Evidence sources
BMJ Best Practice
COVID-19 clinical overview
DynaMed
COVID-19 clinical overview
Oxford
COVID-19 evidence service
Cochrane
COVID-19 rapid reviews
Free-to-access research and ebooks
- BMJ topic page on coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Cochrane Library - Coronavirus (COVID-19): Infection control and prevention measures
- EBSCO - COVID-19 Healthcare resource centre
- EPPI - COVID-19: Living systematic map of the evidence
- The Lancet - COVID-19 resource center
- McMaster University - COVID-19 Evidence alerts
- Nursing journals (MAG) - Coronavirus (COVID-19): articles and resources
- The New England Journal of Medicine - Coronavirus (COVID-19)
- Ovid - Tools and resources for clinicians
- WHO - Global research on coronavirus disease (COVID-19)