TY - JOUR T1 - The CPRD and the RCGP: building on research success by enhancing benefits for patients and practices JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 54 LP - 55 DO - 10.3399/bjgp15X683353 VL - 65 IS - 631 AU - Antonis A Kousoulis AU - Imran Rafi AU - Simon de Lusignan Y1 - 2015/02/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/65/631/54.abstract N2 - Anonymised primary care electronic health records (EHR) have been available for research in the UK for at least two decades. The time has come for a rethink in how we coordinate the sharing of data for research, in a way that provides clear benefits for patients and practices as well as researchers. Up until now, sharing data for research provides long-term benefits for the public, patients, and practitioners as a result of the implementation of these research findings. While these benefits are clearly in the public interest, our current approach provides few immediate benefits.The Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) is one of the largest databases of longitudinal medical records from primary care in the world. It was established in 1987 and named the General Practice Research Database (GPRD) until April 2012. This was initially part of Value Added Medical Products (VAMP), a commercial company located in London, which was the first in the late 1980s that designed and marketed a general practice office computer system allowing for comprehensive recording of medical information for individual patients.1 Electronic health databases, especially primary care data, have been used widely in health research in recent decades.2 The longest standing such database is the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC), established in 1957. Others include QResearch, ResearchOne, and The Health Improvement Network (THIN). Such databases consist of data derived from routinely collected health records generated by daily clinical practice. Their collective impact has been enormous.CPRD is continuously collecting anonymised clinical records from millions of individuals, currently representing almost 10% of the UK population, with demonstrated reliable research standard data.3 It comprises the computerised … ER -