Smarter Model for Primary Care Research
We Need a Smarter, Layered Model for Research in Primary Care
If we’re serious about scaling commercial research in general practice, we can’t keep pretending every site can — or should — do everything.
The current model, where each practice tries to be self-contained with its own contracts, kit, and staff, is well-intentioned but unrealistic. Most don’t have the capacity, space or continuity to deliver full studies from end to end. The result? Investment spread thinly — and few truly research-active sites.
Instead, we need a smarter, layered model — one that recognises different levels of involvement and builds a collective system around them.
Some practices will work best as recruitment or screening sites, identifying participants through searches or opportunistic invites.
Others could act as local delivery hubs, hosting visits, samples and IMP storage with dedicated staff.
A few might evolve into super-hubs, running full trials with monitoring and complex governance in place.
The key isn’t to make every practice a “site” — it’s to make sure every practice can contribute meaningfully, supported by a centrally coordinated workforce that moves flexibly across the network.
That means some staff working locally, some remotely, some mobile; some full-time, some part-time — all sharing training, templates, and quality systems. Experience flows both ways: seasoned staff mentor newer sites, and practices bring patient access and insight in return.
Sponsors and CROs need to buy into this too. A flexible network may look complex on paper, but it offers the scale, consistency and resilience they actually need — a single framework, one governance standard, multiple delivery points.
It won’t be easy, but it’s a better use of resources than everyone buying their own -80°C freezer or duplicating GCP records.
If we get this right, research in primary care becomes a collective enterprise — not dozens of isolated practices competing for scraps, but a connected system where everyone helps make trials possible.