TY - JOUR T1 - Towards consensus for best practice: the use of patient records for research in general practice JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 814 LP - 815 DO - 10.3399/bjgp08X342750 VL - 58 IS - 556 AU - Nigel Mathers AU - Nicola MR Perrin AU - Graham CM Watt Y1 - 2008/11/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/58/556/814.abstract N2 - Research is a core part of the NHS. Evidence is needed to improve patient care, advance understanding of disease, and evaluate interventions. Patient records offer significant potential for research and the increasing use of electronic records offers new possibilities to analyse large volumes of data.Patient information is both sensitive and private. The general public and patients must have confidence that the security of personal information is protected, and that procedures are in place to safeguard data.A number of reports have considered the use of personal information in research,1,2 but there remains uncertainty about access to general practice records for research. A consensus meeting was held in May 2008 with GPs, researchers and patient groups to develop guidance for best practice. This document summarises the agreement reached; it has been endorsed by the RCGP. It should apply to all researchers using patient data, whether academic or commercial.The use of patient information for researchInformation from patient records may be used for research in two ways: anonymised or coded information from records may be used without patient involvement, for example for epidemiological research, to monitor trends in infectious diseases, or for pharmacovigilance. Patient records may be used as a starting point to identify participants for research. Potential recruits are then contacted to seek consent to participate.Some research can be conducted with anonymous information; in other cases, researchers need access to information from … ER -