Clinical research in primary care needs urgent boost

doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7548.1036-b

BMJ 2006;332:1036 (29 April), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7548.1036-b

Letter

Clinical research in primary care needs urgent boost

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

EDITOR—Let us hope that the cogent arguments advancedby Rothwell in support of more and better clinical researchin the United Kingdom begin a serious dialogue that will correctthe asymmetries in research funding, kudos, and leadership thathave developed over the past 5-10 years.¹ Rothwell's argumentsapply with even greater force to the need for a clinical researcheffort in primary care and in health services research on topicssuch as the natural history of common diseases; the value ofinterventions, both therapeutic and preventive; and critically,as Rothwell points out, the difficulties of individualisingrisk and benefit in a single patient on the basis of large scaletrials.

In addition to the clinical research networks described in thenew NHS research and development strategy, adequate projectand programme funding must be made available to support theresearch that Rothwell identifies. This includes follow-up studiesof large . . . [Full text of this article]

Roger Jones, Wolfson professor of general practice

King's College London School of Medicine, London SE11 6SP roger.jones@kcl.ac.uk