Why do research in Primary Care?
GPs at Hope House Surgery, Radstock
Recent reforms in the NHS have placed the primary care sector at the heart of service delivery.
This emphasis is more than justified as many patients, and patients with many conditions, are treated only in the primary care sector, never needing any secondary care contact.
Research in the primary care sector has fallen behind other areas in the past. There is a need to redress this imbalance: Evidence Based Practice is an admirable goal but sometimes there is little or no appropriate evidence on which to base a change in practice.
Who benefits?
Patients and society.
Research is all about improving health care in its broadest sense.
- Patients benefit from more effective care, and society benefits from efficient delivery and equitable distribution of resources.
The researcher.
There are many personal benefits from conducting a good piece of research.
- Clearly, the satisfaction gained from a job well done is one benefit but there are also the advantages of publications, perhaps a qualification, and career enhancement that go hand in hand with research success.
- More important, perhaps, is the feeling of being able to contribute to the knowledge base, and the opportunity to change clinical practice or service delivery for the better.
- If research is ultimately about improving patient care, it must be an integral part of the work of a good doctor.
Next page: Where to go for help
Study guide collated by: Sandra Hollinghurst, Vicky Wood (Bath RDSU) and Michael Harris 
Last updated: 01 October 2006