title: Methodological issues in the development of a national database for primary care groups and trusts.
abstract: At the National Primary Care Research and Development Centre (NPCRDC) we have constructed a national database for all primary care groups (PCGs) in England. At its core, the database links information about population socio-economic and demographic characteristics to generic health status and to the organisation, resourcing and activities of general practice. In this paper we describe and discuss the problems with linking these data, and with defining the boundaries and the local populations of PCGs, given that they have been established on the basis of administrative expediency rather than geographical coherence. We then consider the implications of these difficulties for needs assessment in primary care groups.
authors.affiliation: National Primary Care Research and Development Centre, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hann
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baker
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hayes
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wagner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Barr
mesh_terms: D003628:Database Management Systems; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England; D006293:Health Promotion / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D008498:Medical Record Linkage / Q000592:standards; D016347:Medical Records Systems, Computerized / Q000458:organization & administration*; D020380:Needs Assessment / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D013222:State Medicine / Q000458:organization & administration; D018511:Systems Integration