International Primary Care Respiratory Group

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Introduction

IPCRG's UK Respiratory Research Foundation confirmed as NIHR partner
 
The UK National Health Service (NHS) has established a National Institute for Health Research.  Its Clinical Research Network was established to support clinical research and to facilitate the conduct of trials and other well-designed studies across the UK. 

The UK Respiratory Research Foundation (UKRFF) of the International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) aims to raise standards of respiratory management and care in primary care through collaborative research, innovation and dissemination of best practice.  The Department of Health has reviewed our work and processes and we are delighted to announce has confirmed that the UKRRF meets the criteria for National Institute for Health Research partner organisation status.
 
All future research studies that we fund will be included in the National Institute for Health Research Portfolio in order that they can access NHS Service Support and benefit from the NIHR Clinical Research Network infrastructure. 

The role of the IPCRG
The International Primary Care Respiratory Group (IPCRG) aims to carry out high-quality research with the goal of improving standards in primary care respiratory medicine. The charity is registered in Scotland, but has an international reach and undertakes research on a pan-national basis to maximize sample sizes for study. The IPCRG has a dual role that requires it to both carry out research, and to disseminate its findings so that they can inform practice and affect real change in the delivery of primary care respiratory medicine.

In its role as an information disseminator, the IPCRG is mindful that research findings must be tailored to local attitudes and belief systems, and be made available as widely as possible. The IPCRG is also aware of the need for its research recommendations to be practical. It therefore works to evaluate the implementation success of its recommendations and to compare these findings across different healthcare settings.

Establishing the UKRRF
To date, the IPCRG's UK research has benefited from the availability of good practice data (as a result of The Quality and Outcomes Framework); the General Practice Research Database (GPRD); comprehensive prescribing data, and a strong history of primary care respiratory medicine. There is also a supportive funding system in the UK, which fosters voluntary sector activity in respiratory research and its implementation.

In light of this, the IPCRG has established the UK Respiratory Research Foundation (UKRRF) to harness the very best in UK experience, data and systems. The Foundation is set in the context of a powerful international research network and benefits from both the quality of work of its UK collaborators and from their high-quality, critical evaluation and review.

UKRRF objectives
Consultation with UKRRF members and leading UK primary care experts has led to the development of a much-needed comprehensive Research Strategy for primary care respiratory medicine. The strategy not only provides a framework for the development of the Foundation’s own research programme, but also highlights priority research areas in respiratory primary care medicine for potential investigators and funders.

The UKRRF focuses on research in chronic respiratory diseases commonly diagnosed and managed in primary care, including child and adult asthma; smoking dependence; allergic rhinitis; chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and comorbidities. To a lesser extent, it also addresses infectious respiratory diseases handled in the primary care setting, including lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs), infection trends, and pandemic flu.

Click here to read the UKRFF Research Strategy, Research Needs and Research Policy in full.

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Page updated on 3 September 2009 15:23

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