Primary healthcare research in the UK has expanded in conjunction with the wider agenda
of a primary care led National Health Service (NHS). This reflects international reconsideration
of the place of primary healthcare within national healthcare systems. However the
role and standing of research in primary care tends to be marginal and less influential
than that originating in research establishments or medical schools pursuing biomedical
investigations. There are many reasons for this, some of which this paper attempts
to elucidate. We address the perspectives and relationships between ‘stakeholder’
groups in the field of primary care and highlight the ways in which such relationships
affect research in this area. The development of a primary care research project concerned
with osteo-arthritis of the knee (the OAK project) is used as an exemplar of these
stresses and we suggest ways in which the difficulties encountered may be overcome.
Keywords
Primary Care Research - Research Methodology
