General Practice data for research

We have just read, courtesy of eHealth Insider that "the NHS Information Centre is on the verge of having all GP clinical systems suppliers signed up to the General Practice Extraction Service. Emis, Microtest, iSoft and INPS have signed up to extract and communicate data to the NHS IC, and TPP expects to have a contract signed within weeks."


For more information on the General Practice Extraction Service (GPES), see the NHS IC GPES page which currently only mentions the contract with EMIS and whilst it describes the value of GP data, does not allude to its use for research but only in commissioning despite asserting that "GP patient records are the most complete record of a patient's health within the NHS. They comprise a wealth of information about patient care, the prevalence of diseases and treatments given."

So where does this leave services like GPRD, THIN and QRESEARCH. Well, we know that GPES won't be fully up and running for another year at least, and that GPRD will become the CPRD  (Clinical Practice Research Datalink) if all goes to plan. In the interim, as per this from the Health Protection Agency, GPRD and QRESEARCH will still be providing primary care data for research, but what will the landscape look like by the end of 2013?