What is Primary Care?

The Research and Development (R&D) team at NHS Norfolk hosts the research management and governance services for the following primary care organisations:

• NHS Norfolk
• Norfolk Community Health & Care
• NHS Great Yarmouth & Waveney
• Great Yarmouth & Waveney Community Services
• NHS Suffolk
• Suffolk Community Healthcare

The following information will provide you with an overview of the services which fall under primary care. If you are unsure if your study involves primary care, please contact the R&D office for further information.

Primary Care Trusts (PCTs)

If your study involves NHS staff or data in commissioning departments, it will need research governance approval by the PCT employing the staff or holding the data. To understand what PCTs are, please see the following page.

Independent Contractors

Independent Contractors are GPs, dentists, pharmacists and optometrists. These are separate business entities, which are contracted by the PCT which they sit in to provide services on the PCT’s behalf. Any study involving independent contractors (i.e. their patients, data, tissue or staff) will need research governance approval from the contracting PCT. If you know which independent contractor will be involved in your study, please use NHS choices to find out which PCT they are contracted by.

Community Care Organisations

Norfolk Community Health & Care, Suffolk Community Healthcare and Great Yarmouth & Waveney Community Services provide community services in Norfolk and Suffolk. Studies which will involve any of the following services will need research governance approval from the community care organisation. This is obtained via the R&D office at NHS Norfolk.

Examples of community care services are community nursing, health visitors, speech and language therapy, prison healthcare, palliative care services and learning disabilities services. For a complete list of services covered by community care organisations, please visit the following websites:

Norfolk Community Health & Care
Great Yarmouth & Waveney Community Services
Suffolk Community Healthcare 

Other NHS Organisations

There are separate R&D offices in the Acute and Mental Health Trusts in this region. For contact details of these offices, please see the external organisations contact page.