PCRTA serendipitous carrot masquerading as stick?

PARTY LINE: (Fenny Green & Nigel Mathers) High quality primary care research is undertaken in the practice setting, and the RCGP’s Research Group wishes to promote and encourage this. It evolved from the RCGP Research General Practice Awards. These were developed to demonstrate the need to make research infrastructure funding available to research -active practices to support the high quality research within practice settings. The funding was limited and demand high. Recognising the shortage of these awards a number of practices urged the Research Group to consider developing accreditation for research-active practices. With the support of the Department of Health and many other key primary care R&D stakeholders, Primary Care Research Team Assessment (PCRTA) was developed to meet this need. PCRTA is a key activity for the RCGP Research Group and offers a rigorous assessment that gives recognition to best practice in the conduct of research in the practice setting. It also includes a formative component that encourages practice development. The implementation of Research Governance across the UK means that some aspects of research governance and management are now undertaken within primary care organisations. However, direct contact takes place with study participants at the practice level in many studies. PCRTA, being a practice-based assessment, provides a valuable means of ensuring that good practice cascades through the primary care research community.