Launch

All-Wales initiative to tackle primary healthcare challenges

Primary care plays a crucial role as the front-line service of the NHS, particularly in Wales, which has some of the most disadvantaged communities in Europe. Effective, comprehensive primary care improves not only health but also quality of life.

Guests at the Opening held in the Senedd (Assembly Building), Cardiff Bay

However, the provision of primary care varies greatly across the country. Rural and post-industrial areas pose very different healthcare challenges.

The review by Derek Wanless identified a need for primary care investment and development to ensure sustainability of both primary and secondary care services. Currently, a great deal of health care is delivered in hospitals that could and should be provided in the community, close to where people live and more cost effectively. The Welsh Assembly Government’s vision is for locally accessible services offering patients integrated services from clinical, health and social care professionals, together with services for procedures where quality is enhanced by concentrating them in fewer, highly specialised centres.

 To support this vision, several Welsh Universities have collaborated to create the Wales School for Primary Care Research. Backed by the Welsh Assembly Government, this provides relevant research to help the development of high quality primary care in General Practice, Pharmacy, Nursing, Optometry and Dentistry in the first instance. It aims to develop and share excellence in primary care research and, in time, work with professionals across all relevant disciplines to improve the quality and quantity of primary care research in Wales.

Management team (L-R Ivor Chestnutt, Rachel North, Stephen Denyer, Joyce Kenkre, Christopher Butler) with First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan

The School is a new partnership between the Universities of Cardiff, Swansea, Glamorgan and Bangor. The Director, Professor Chris Butler, Professor of Primary Care Medicine at Cardiff University, said: “Worldwide, health care delivery is changing fast, with excellent primary care widely recognised as the key to a sustainable health service. But this has to be underpinned by world-leading research if it is to deliver. The Wales School for Primary Care Research brings together researchers from several primary care disciplines to develop and share research excellence so Wales can continue to punch way above its weight in this crucial field.”

First Minister Rhodri Morgan said: “Research shows that those countries which have a strong primary care health services are best able to control health costs and have populations that are satisfied with care provision and have a high level of health. The Wales Office for Research and Development for Health and Social Care is developing a strong research infrastructure on behalf of the Welsh Assembly Government, who are supporting the development of the Wales School for Primary Care Research.

“The main emphasis of the Wales School of Primary Care Research is to promote a ‘step change’ improvement in the quality and quantity of multi-disciplinary research. World-class research of international standard will then generate evidence that is locally applicable and internationally relevant to inform practice and policy in Wales and beyond.”

WSPCR Director, Professor Christopher Butler with guest speaker Prof Frank Sullivan, Director of the Scottish School for Primary Care

Professor Joyce Kenkre, Professor of Primary Care in the Faculty Health, Sport and Science at the University of Glamorgan and Associate Director of the Wales School of Primary Care Research, said: “The development of evidence based care provision for the population within Wales is important. This should be based on high quality research and this new initiative will provide the opportunity for health care professions to work together in primary care to investigate future care delivery.”

The Centre for Health-Related Research, at Bangor University is part of the partnership. Centre Director Professor Jane Noyes said: “The All Wales School for Primary Care Research is a great opportunity for Bangor University researchers to contribute their expertise to the partnership. The partnership provides opportunities to investigate primary care issues that local people face in North Wales and enable us to undertake research of international relevance.”

The School’s official launch took place at the Senedd, Cardiff Bay, on Monday September 29, with the First Minister for Wales, Rhodri Morgan.