Oxford-RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC)

In joining the RSC, you will become a member of one of the longest standing data sharing networks in the world. For over 60 years, the network has been sharing data and as it has evolved the opportunities and benefits to practices are even greater. Joining the RSC will enable your practice to:

• Contribute to public health data and help inform real-time decision-making relating to emerging disease and infection outbreaks
• Participate in primary care research and surveillance activity and receive remuneration accordingly
• Learn more about your own practice’s activity and access help and support with subjects such as data quality

There is no cost to joining the network, in fact it is possible to increase practice revenue by taking part in sampling and research.

As a network member you will have access to: 

• Bespoke practice-level dashboards
• Weekly newsletters highlighting important network updates and stats
• Professional Engagement and Patient & Public Involvement & Engagement meetings and feedback forums .

The RSC recognises the importance of patients being aware that the practice is participating in research and that they have the right to 'opt out'. To support this, the RSC supplies member practices with a poster for their waiting rooms, patient information sheet and a copy of the logo for their websites, and we encourage practices to add information to their website. When patients do opt out of sharing their data, this is always respected. For more information on data privacy and security you can read the Oxford-RCGP ORCHID research privacy notice.

The RSC only use pseudonymised information for disease surveillance and is compliant with UK GDPR Article 6 in the use of personal data and Article 9 in the use of sensitive data (such as health data). The RSC works within all relevant governance frameworks including NHS Digital and the Medical Research Council and is compliant with all existing legislation and national guidance on the use of patient level data.

Data is extracted weekly and directly from the practice's clinical system. This is done when the clinical system is not active and usually overnight.

All practices in the network are providing pseudonymised data for surveillance. Practice members have access to their own dashboard displaying their data, which includes feedback on data quality, can be downloaded, and is updated weekly. This individualised feedback is based around various aspects of a practice coding and can have the additional benefit of demonstrating a commitment to quality improvement during CQC visits.