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QResearch is helping to save lives and improve patient outcomes
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QResearch is a large consolidated database derived from the anonymised health records from general practices in a not-for-profit partnership between the University of Nottingham and leading healthcare IT provider Optum (formerly EMIS). The aim of the project is to develop and maintain a high quality database of general practice derived data linked to secondary care data for use in ethical medical research.
The practices involved are spread throughout the UK and include data from patients who are currently registered with the practices as well as historical patients, with records extending back to the 1989, it is one of the largest and richest general practice databases in the world.
The data extracted is de-identified at source and QResearch has continued ethical approval from the East Midlands - Derby Research Ethics Committee.
The database is only open to academic researchers with ethical committee approval and the researchers are provided with the anonymised patient level data that is required to answer their research question - not the whole dataset. Patients are also able to opt out from having their data used in this way.
QResearch has been used in a number of studies which have helped to save lives and improve patient outcomes.
We are very grateful for the continuing support of the EMIS [now Optum] GP practices that contribute their high quality data to QResearch. Without them, our research would not be possible.”