Using CPRD data for public health research

EARLY DAYS

When you join a practice as a partner, you generally buy a share of the practice’s ‘fixtures and fittings’. Things like the autoclave (which gurgled alarmingly until, in one glorious explosion, was no more), and the chipped coffee mugs, plus the expensive computer. Thus, in 1990, when I joined my first practice, I was relieved that the computer came for free. ‘Some company gave it to us, so they can use our prescribing data.’ The rules of this freebie — ensuring all consultations were logged, and all prescriptions had a documented indication — seemed good notekeeping practice, a rare merger of the needs of my morals and those of my wallet. A few rules were less helpful. We kept getting shirty reminders to record the Apgar score of all our births. This was a chore (and almost certainly worthless). Welcome to the world of Value Added Medical …