Who are the IPCRN

           
 Who are the IPCRN

 

The Irish Primary Care Research Network (IPCRN) is managed by the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP). It’s steering group is made up of representatives from the original founders, namely, the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGP), the HRB Centre for Primary Care Research in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) and Western Research and Education Network at the National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG).

Details on each of the Partner Institutions are below:

 

 

The Irish College General Practitioners (ICGP) is the professional body for general practice in Ireland. The College was founded in 1984 and is based in Lincoln Place, Dublin 2. The College's primary aim is to serve the patient and the general practitioner by encouraging and maintaining the highest standards of general medical practice. It is the representative organisation on education, training and standards in general practice.The College is the recognised body for the accreditation of specialist training in general practice in Ireland and is recognised by the Medical Council as the representative academic body for the specialty of general practice. At an international level the College is a member of the World Organisation of National Colleges and Academies and Academic Associations of General Practice (WONCA).

 

 

The Western Research and Education Network, WestREN, is a partnership between more than 150 GPs and general practices and the Discipline of General Practice at NUI Galway. WestREN covers a population of over 400,000 from an area extending geographically from counties Cork to Donegal. Network practices represent urban and rural communities of varying socio-economic backgrounds.  Practice list sizes range from 500 to 5,000 and from single-handed to multi-partner practices.The mission of WestREN is to support primary care research and education in order to improve the quality of care delivered to patients in the community.

 

 

The HRB Centre for Primary Care Research aims to establish standards for the quality of care of vulnerable patient groups, namely older adults, children, drug users and pregnant women, with a particular emphasis on effective medicine monitoring (work package 1). Evidence-based diagnoses are also a priority for the Centre (work package 2). A register of clinical prediction rules (CPRs) is being established, in conjunction with systematic reviews of common clinical conditions in relation to the diagnostic accuracy of symptoms, signs and diagnostic tests available to GPs. Finally, based on the observational epidemiological research concerning quality of care and medicines management, as well as the CPR register, work package 3 involves the development and evaluation of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) interventions in the form of computer-based clinical decisions support systems (CDSSs), decision aids and self management programmes.