Handling statistical enquiries in the medical library — some practical examples

Every library school student knows that statistics — like conference proceedings and technical reports — belong to that category of material called ‘difficult literature’. It is true that often it is not easy to find out what is available, and that frequently the published statistics do not give the figures in quite the way that your enquirer wants. A starting point for many enquiries will be the Guide to official statistics, compiled by the Central Statistical Office and the coverage of which is much wider than might be expected from the title. However there are other sources of information which may be less obvious, and these include recent journal articles and reviews, annual reports of organisations, textbooks, monographs and computerised bibliographic databases. In addition there are a number of organisations which may be able to provide statistical information or advise on it, such as the Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (OPCS), the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS), the Office of Health Economics (OHE), and the Royal College of General Practitioners. Bear in mind too that the various tiers of the National Health Service may issue their own statistics, for example the North West Thames Regional Health Authority produce their Annual patient statistics which give figures by district and by individual hospital. Libraries should try and get themselves on the mailing list for these documents!