Document delivery (also known as document supply or inter-library loans) is a service which is normally provided free of charge to the person who requests either a copy of an article, chapter or book although there will be exceptions to this.
What do I need to know?
England
Inter-Network Collaboration
Inter-Lending and Document Supply, as it is referred to by NHS England, is primarily divided between six geographically based networks of library services:
- EDEN (East of England)
- KSS (Kent, Surrey and Sussex)
- LENDS (London)
- MIDS (Midlands)
- PANDDA (North)
- SWIMS (South)
Each network has a rota of the other networks to whom it will go in turn to make document delivery requests – the library making the request would start within its own network first, then, following the rota list for its network, would contact each of the other networks in turn until the item is obtained.
Source – HEE KLS Inter-Lending and Document Supply
INCDocs
INCDocs is a service provided by Third Iron, which allows the supply of PDF copies of items that are available via the NHS Knowledge & Library Hub. INCDocs accesses holdings management at the national, regional and local level to locate libraries that contain holdings of the item being requested, and then randomly sends the actual request to a library with that holds the relevant material.
Good Practice
NHS England have provided Good Practice Guidelines for inter-lending and document supply that cover a range of areas:
- Principles, copyright, data protection, and searching
- General Principles
- Copyright
- Data Protection
- Searching for Items
- Responsibilities of requesting and supplying libraries
- Responsibilities of the requesting library
- Responsibilities of the supplying library
- Responsibilities to customers and to networks, renewals, lost and damaged items
- Responsibilities to customers
- Book renewals
- Lost or damaged items
- Responsibilities to your network and other networks
Scotland
NHS Scotland’s Knowledge Network allows allows document delivery requests to be placed for items that are not immediately accessible via Library Search – click the “Get It For Me” link to create a request.
The Knowledge Network is a national network covering all of Scotland’s individual health boards – items requested via document delivery through the Knowledge Network can then be lent by any other NHS Scotland library service.
Wales
NHS Wales Library & Knowledge Services are an all Wales network meaning items from any library in NHSWLKS can be requested by/lent to any other NHSWLKS library. NHSWLKS can also request lending from Cardiff University, within certain conditions.
Patrons can request ILLs via the NHS Wales LibrarySearch at https://nhswaleslibrarysearch.cardiff.ac.uk/ or via email or in-person at their local NHS Library.
UK-wide
If you have not been able to find what you are looking for via a local geographical network, there are two further networks of health libraries that can be tried:
Both networks are membership based, and libraries would need to be members in order to use them for document delivery requests. You would therefore need to make sure your library is member of the relevant network before making a request via it.
As a last resort for obtaining material without paying a copyright fee there is the HealthILL and LIS-ILL mailing lists. These should only be used when all other free avenues of obtaining material have been exhausted. Make sure you have fully read the instructions for making requests this way before going ahead.
If you are still unsuccessful, your next choice would be the British Library (BL). It is advisable to check with your reader before requesting either a book or article from the BL as quite often there will be a fee to pay. In addition to this you may require a signed copyright declaration before obtaining a copy – you can check whether this is the case or not by going to the Copyright Licensing Agency webpage for the NHS England copyright licence.
A signed copyright declaration will also be required if a request is for a member of staff who is not employed by the NHS or for a non-NHS library. NHS England have provided full guidance for library staff on all aspects of document supply and copyright.
If you are unsuccessful with the British Library, an alternative you can try is Reprints Desk, which works along similar lines to the BL OnDemand service as a way of obtaining copyright fee paid items.
Where can I learn more?
Colleagues in your own service or local services will be able to help you.
Who can I contact?
Health Education England has published a list of useful contacts for both copyright and document delivery on a regional basis on its ILDS website.
Local colleagues as above via local networks or the Health Library and Information Services Directory HLISD (www.hlisd.org)
Page last reviewed: 25 June 2025
Next review due: 25 June 2027
Health Libraries Group 