A users guide to data collected in primary care in England

More NHS contacts occur and more NHS prescriptions are written in primary care than in any other setting. It is no surprise therefore that enormous quantities of data are routinely collected in thousands of separate general practices the length and breadth of the United Kingdom every day. These population-based data on individuals from birth vary, but include information on symptoms, investigations, diagnoses, referrals, treatment and outcomes, and therefore represent an incredible resource for research, education, audit, quality management, service development and planning. In an aggregated form this information could provide the most complete picture about the health of the national population as is conceivably possible.

This succinct, clearly presented Association of Public Health Observatories report, written by authors with considerable expertise, is very timely. It brings together and summarises information about known sources of primary care data (focusing on general practice teams rather than the professions allied to medicine), the methods and systems used to access primary care data at the moment, and sets out their range, strengths and weaknesses.

• Primary Care

• Care
• Primary Care Services