Finding and using routine clinical datasets for observational research and quality improvement

INTRODUCTION

Primary care in the UK generates an extraordinary amount of data. There are more than 300 million consultations annually, creating unrivalled opportunities for research.¹ The volume of patients that consult primary care practitioners daily, the variety of clinical conditions, the diversity of populations, and the transfer from hand-written records to comprehensive electronic medical systems have heralded a new era in primary care research. Furthermore, the linkage of primary and secondary care data systems creates opportunities for prospective and retrospective studies and epidemiological insights into population health.²

Increasing accessibility of rich data has changed the landscape of research in the community. As well as large datasets based around electronic medical records, primary care researchers also have access to alternative sources of data, which are often free. Also, record linkage among datasets in safe havens can enhance the value of records further.³ The aim of this article is to highlight datasets that are available to primary care researchers and to give examples of how they have been used in primary care research. A new resource detailing primary care and community-based datasets is now available. This resource has been …