Medical Research

Research and Surveillance Centre

Supporting practices to improve patient care through data.

The RCGP RSC is Europe's oldest public health surveillance system.

It is a funded network of practices, supported by Public Health England and NHS England to deliver disease surveillance, research and more recently monitoring general practice workload.

History of the RSC

The RSC has been at the cutting edge of GP data for over 50 years. Initially responsible for monitoring flu pandemics. It is now a network of over 500 practices supporting Surveillance, Quality Improvement, Research and Education.

Benefits of RCGP RSC membership are:

Opportunity to participate In research In a light-touch way
Create new practice revenue streams and ensure your practice is earning maximum QOF and DES income
Contribute to the national picture by providing data for Infectious diseases to Public Health England
Unlimited access to a dashboard that allows practices to understand their own workload and benchmark them against other practices in the network

'' I can wholeheartedly recommend joining the RCGP RSC network. Being a member of this friendly collaboration of practices not only brings opportunities for financial reward, ii also allows you to play a small part In contributing to a much larger collection of data that is helping to Inform the future of publlc health and primary care."
Charlotte Ebrie, Data IT manager, Sussex

What about GDPR

Due to the sensitive nature of the information we extract, being GDPR compliant is of critical importance.

Our IG structure is NHS Digital compliant and has been externally verified. If you require more in-depth information, get in touch.

FAQs

Q, If we join the RCGP RSC, is it compulsory to take part in research studies?
No. You can opt in to take part in research. Any opportunities are advertised in a monthly newsletter.

Q . Is them a cost to the practice to Join the RCGP RSC?
No. The RCGP RSC covers all fees for data extraction set up at the practice, there is no cost to practices in the network.

Q. If we join the RCGP RSC, will our practice be paid?
Yes. Practices receive funding based on research activities. The dashboards also show how much you can earn in specific QOF or DES activity and help you maximise your revenue.

Q. The practice is very busy, does it take much time to set up?
No. The process has been designed to be as light-touch as possible for practices to enroll in the RCGP RSC. Our agreements can be completed electronically, and
data extraction is an automated process, so no additional administrative efforts are required at practice level.

Q. What is a Practice Dashboard? I've practised pretty well without one so far!
The Practice Dashboard is a graphical representation of your data showing you what is happening In your practices every day. It's highly valuable to see this and compare it with other anonymised practices to understand what you are doing well and where you might be able to manage your workload in a different way.

Q. Could this data be used to monitor what we are doing?
No. GDPR protects use of the data for any other purposes than those explicitly stated in the data sharing agreement. It is not possible to share identifiable data with CCGs, or NHS England. It is not possible for this Information to be used as part of performance management or any strategy to monitor your activity. It can only be used by practices to drive Quality improvement.

"We love being part of this network, the team is very friendly and always available to answer questions. The team is organised and makes the research work simple to get involved in."
Meena Agrawal. Practice Manager, Warwickshire

Hospital Services

Find out what services are available in your borough by visiting the NHS Pennine Care website.

Community Services

Support Groups

Oldham Diabetes Voluntary Support Group is run by people who have diabetes. We provide practical help, advice, and support to fellow sufferers, their families, friends, and carers.

Physical Activity Groups

The NHS Get Fit for Free includes details of local walking groups.

Stop Smoking

The Stop Smoking Service has helped local people to quit smoking for many years.

They offer free, tailored support:

Individual sessions
Telephone and text message support
Access to Nicotine Replacement Therapy and other stop smoking aids
Tips and advice to support you on your journey to quit

To start your stop smoking journey contact the team on 0800 288 9008.

Have a look at the GM Health Hub website which has lots of great resources to support people across Greater Manchester to stop smoking.

Patient Involvement Groups

Want to be involved in shaping health & social care services in Oldham?

NHS Oldham CCG has adopted three key principles to guide our engagement work. They set out an ethical framework against which we invite our communities to judge our involvement activity against: