Primary Care Research Team Assessment (PCRTA): development and evaluation.

Primary Care Research Team Assessment (PCRTA): development and evaluation. Occas Pap R Coll Gen Pract. 2002 Feb;(81):iii-vi, 1-72 Authors: Carter YH, Shaw S, Macfarlane F Abstract BACKGROUND: Since the early 1990s the United Kingdom (UK) Department of Health has explicitly promoted a research and development (R&D) strategy for the National Health Service (NHS). General practitioners (GPs) and other members of the primary care team are in a unique position to undertake research activity that will complement and inform the research undertaken by basic scientists and hospital-based colleagues and lead directly to a better evidence base for decision making by primary care professionals. Opportunities to engage in R&D in primary care are growing and the scope for those wishing to become involved is finally widening. Infrastructure funding for research-active practices and the establishment of a range of support networks have helped to improve the research capacity and blur some of the boundaries between academic departments and clinical practice. This is leading to a supportive environment for primary care research. There is thus a need to develop and validate nationally accepted quality standards and accreditation of performance to ensure that funders, collaborators and primary care professionals can deliver high quality primary care research. Several strategies have been described in national policy documents in order to achieve...
Source: Occasional Paper (Royal College of General Practitioners) - Category: Primary Care Tags: Occas Pap R Coll Gen Pract Source Type: research