Doctors’ leaders back new guidance on using patients’ records for research

doi:10.1136/bmj.b2641

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Adrian O’Dowd

¹London

Leading GP bodies have given their support to new guidance on how patients’ medical records should be used in medical research.

The guidance, published this week by the medical charity the Wellcome Trust, aims to make it clearer to GPs and researchers how they can ensure that medical records are used safely in research.

The report says that patients’ records in general practice are a unique source of information that can help medical researchers improve their understanding of disease, develop potential new treatments, and improve care.

Increasing use of electronic records should make it easier for researchers to use this information, but …