College Officers commenting on my article on academic general practice1 refer to the Clinical Innovation and Research Centre (CIRC) and I agree it has achieved much in education and development. However, CIRC is not a research centre and is not seen nationally as such.
It is ironic that they cite the RCGP Research Paper of the Year as evidence of the College managing without a Research Committee. Corporate memory is not what it was! I invented this idea as Chairman of the College’s Research Committee in the mid-1990s. The Research Committee/Network and staff developed it vigorously as a new way of fostering research excellence, raising the RCGP’s profile, and enabling the College to host an annual dinner for the research community at no cost to the College. So this award is actually evidence of what the College’s former Research Committee could achieve.
The College’s Research Committee is sorely missed. There is now no RCGP support for research-active general practices, although NHS policy is to promote research in all NHS settings, including NHS general practices. There is no RCGP campaign for opportunities for GPs and colleagues to do higher university degrees, which have reduced in recent years. The College’s Research Committee successfully nominated a member of the primary care panel in the University Research Assessment Exercise, but that could not happen now.
As the College is richer than ever before, can the Research Committee be reinstated?
- © British Journal of General Practice 2016
