ICGP Conference – Strengthening General Practice through Research and Audit (Sponsored by Flora ProActiv) – a clear success
Date: Saturday June 19th, 2010
Venue, Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny
Sponsor: Flora ProActiv
The first ICGP research and audit conference - Strengthening General Practice through Research and Audit - held on June 19th in the Lyrath Hotel, Kilkenny and sponsored by Flora ProActiv was a notable success. Delegates at the conference reported being very satisfied with the content and format of the conference and calls have already been received to repeat the conference next year.
Many of the GP researchers had not heretofore presented their research/audits at a national event and were delighted with the opportunity to do so in a congenial and supportive environment. Those with questions as to how to proceed with their research/audit activities were also pleased with the helpful advice from other delegates during the ample time provided for questions and comments after each presentation.
The topics presented were varied and included small and large scale research and audits showing the implications for many areas relevant to general practice including chronic disease management programmes, service developments, patient monitoring and prescribing. There were also examples of genuine engagement and collaboration with general practice when the research is initiated and conducted by someone outside of general practice. Dr Mary Kearney from Dunlavin attended the conference and noted that "Some of the oral presentations showed how other people are learning from their own practices, how they are improving and were willing to share that knowledge with all of us. Others were informative of what was happening elsewhere in Ireland in terms of collaboration with other services. The posters had a great variety of topics and information. They showed a GP what is possible to do even with limited resources".
They keynote speech, delivered by Professor Parle, University of Birmingham, relayed how a question from everyday practice, which he felt was not answered elsewhere, inspired him to embark on his first research project. His advice is "start small, keep it simple and learn from others". This advice was repeated during a seminar by Dr Callanan, St Vincent's Hospital, on audit and professional competence who recommended small, regular and repeated audits with a stress on ensuring that the full audit cycle is completed. The distinction between audit and research was highlighted by both Dr Callanan and Professor Bradley particularly in terms of the aim and ethical requirements. Professor Bradley, University College Cork, also reminded us that research is unethical if it is not of good scientific quality. Dr Kearney, GP Dunlavin, noted that Cochrane systematic reviews are different from other reviews in that they must have a plain English summary, be updated appropriately and have no sponsorship, in addition to a protocol and abstract to a specified structure.
The ICGP projects on quality indicators and diagnostic coding were received well and were of particular interest to the delegates with many noting the benefit of the findings to practices and future developments.
Flora Proactive sponsored two prizes at the event and congratulations are extended to Sarah Molony and Ruth Moloney who won the oral presentation and poster prize respectively.
The need for an avenue to inform GPs of the depth of research taking place and to disseminate research and audit findings, in particular those which impact on everyday practice, was highlighted by delegates. In response to this, the ICGP will produce an online ICGP publication of selected abstracts late in 2010 to provide a picture of general practice through research and audit activity. Submissions are now invited. Abstracts should not exceed 300 words and in addition should include the abstract title, all authors and contact details for correspondence. The closing date for submissions is September 24th. Please send your abstract to carol.white@icgp.ie.
Further information on the conference and on research and audit activities is available on request from the ICGP Director of Research on claire.collins@icgp.ie.