Delivering research in general practice in Wales

Dr Selena Harris is a GP with extended role in research delivery in North Wales and regional lead for the Primary and Community Care Research Network (PCCRN) within Health and Care Research Wales. Selena discusses the benefits of research delivery and support available for other practices in Wales to get involved.

My research delivery journey    

My mentor was the first person to encourage me to try research, so I got involved pretty much straight after I finished as a registrar. I also was interested generally in health promotion and public health and a lot of the research opportunities I saw available early on were related to these areas.  

I became Research Lead during my time as a GP partner and COVID-19 started not long after this, which encouraged us to get more involved as a practice within research. We took on some significant roles during this time, such as the SPIKE trial which required seeing a lot of patients within COVID-19 times. We became top recruiters for the trial which created a big buzz within our multidisciplinary team, and it felt like we were making a  difference at a time when everyone so desperately wanted to make a difference, which was really rewarding.  

From then on, we became recognised and as a team who could deliver research, and we took on a bigger role within  Public  Health Wales, with our practice becoming a hub for the PANORAMIC trial for all of Wales. This was a real team effort with resident doctors, foundation doctors, registrars all getting involved with checking eligibility and making phone calls. To be able to provide that sort of trial for as one practice, for the whole country was amazing.  

Since then, we've  just picked up whatever came our way really. Our attitude has always been - just give it a go. Very rarely we'll find something that's out of our capability.  

I’m now also regional lead for the Primary and Community Care Research Network (PCCRN) and our aim is to develop an all-Wales approach to research - to support practices within local networks so they can develop the infrastructure and working models together.  

Benefits to research delivery in general practice 

The thing I like most of our research delivery is the fact that it involves the multidisciplinary team. It involves everybody within the practice. We've really tried  within our practice to get all the clinicians involved and where possible, any new trainees and medical students that come through. As  a  GP trainer and a GP tutor, I find it exciting, because they're the next generation, and it would be nice to get them more involved in primary care research for the future. 

I also really enjoy the aspects with the patients and the connection that we get with the patients through research. Our patients generally quite like supporting research. I've found they like the extra opportunities to build up trust with a doctor or a nurse involved in the research and I think  that's  been  beneficial  for the future relationships that they've built up with the  practice. 

Advice for getting started and support in Wales 

Honestly you just need to have a good go at it and just say yes to things. It can sound really overwhelming, especially on the burden of what you're already doing and the pressures that you've already got in the practice. However, just by getting started and developing that team, you'll find that the team can work together and you'll be able to meet the targets of the trials.  

Just know that support is out there. Getting started can be challenging and but if you need some help to just get that foot in the door, getting in contact with us at Health and Care Research Wales is a good place to start.  

We have a team of GPs and primary care professionals that will be happy to have a chat with you about potential studies you might want to consider joining. We can help you understand the financing and administrative side of things and also support you with your staffing.  

We'll share our success stories and some of the basics of how we set our templates up, how we manage to see patients and meet all our targets within the GP contract as well as doing the research. We've got a good understanding of that balance and we'll be able to guide you throughout. If  you've  got any problems once you get started, we'll be here to help you meet your targets and support you through it. 

Contact - Research-primarycare@wales.nhs.uk 

For more resources on research delivery, visit the 

RCGP Research Engagement Hub