Frank Sullivan, Scottish School of Primary Care
 The Australian Health System is preparing for the largest re-organisation in two decades with an increased emphasis on prevention, primary health care and E-Health. The Australian primary health care research community has aims and ambitions which are similar to the Scottish research model and we are developing links to achieve several of these common aspirations, including driving international research and collaborating with similar research communities.
The Scottish School of Primary Care (SSPC) works with researchers in primary care across Scotland to develop programmes of research, increase study, recruitment and opportunities for higher level research career opportunities. Within SSPC is the Scottish Primary Care Research Network (SPCRN) which works to increase the amount of research relevant to patient care undertaken in a primary care setting. SPCRN streamlines the recruitment process for researchers by providing one access point to a Scottish-wide network of professionals who can help recruit participants into research studies.
Our research model has helped Scotland to develop considerable strengths in International primary care research, building links with Australian researchers along the way, such as Marjan Kljakovic, Professor of General Practice at ANU who recently visited SSPC to gain an insight into data-linkage in Scotland and Rebecca Pallavicini, Manager of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute who came to review the research network model. We have recently appointed Professor Jane Gunn from University of Melbourne as an SSPC visiting professor who will work on a national, primary care based cohort study of people with multimorbidity. One of our researchers, Dr Colin McCowan recently visited Australia to present work at the 2010 Primary Health Care Research Conference in Darwin before visiting the University of Newcastle where he gave an invited seminar and participated in collaborative research with staff members there following links he had established as part of the Brisbane Initiative.
International primary care is strong on our agenda for the future and is reflected in our upcoming Annual Conference which will take place 19-20 April 2011 in Edinburgh. There is an International theme throughout –Think Global - with key note speakers from around the world. We are eager to further promote international collaboration and would like to invite all researchers to our conference or to get in touch to collaborate with other projects.
For more information visit the SSPC website at <www.sspc.ac.uk>
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