Out of hours primary care clinical database - Approval extension
Research type
Research Database
IRAS ID
333636
Contact name
Samuel Finnikin
Contact email
Research summary
Birmingham Our-of-hours primary care Research Database (BORD)
REC name
West Midlands - South Birmingham Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
24/WM/0050
Date of REC Opinion
15 Apr 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion
Data collection arrangements
BORD is a database containing information collected during past consultations with Badger Care Ltd. out-of-hours services. When patients contact the out-of-hours service, their details and their medical information (such as the diagnosis and treatment) are entered onto an electronic patient record system. This database (BORD) contains the information recorded into the electronic patient record system but does not include information that may identify the patient or the doctor or nurse who spoke to them.
The data has already been collected and stored on the Badger computer systems as part of routine patient care. To turn this information into a research database, data analysts from Badger will collect the data together, removing any identifiable information, and then this will be transferred to secure servers at the University of Birmingham. This will mean that researchers will not be able to identify patients or clinicians from the database.
Research programme
This database can be used by researchers to answer questions about out-of-hours general practice. These may be about who is using these services and when, what was wrong with them or what treatments they received. The answers to these questions could then be used to help improve out-of-hours care across the country and inform the design of these services. Using this kind of data for research means researchers do not have to get new data from patients. Collecting data from patients is more time consuming, expensive and inconvenient for patients than using data that has already been collected during normal care. Currently there are no similar databases in the UK. We have similar databases for normal general practice and for hospital care, but nothing for out-of-hours general practice. These other databases are frequently used for research and have helped generate important knowledge in these areas. The lack of an equivalent database in out-of-hours care means researchers are not able to answer some research questions in this important part of the NHS.
Research database title
Birmingham Our-of-hours primary care Research Database (BORD)
Establishment organisation
University of Birmingham
Establishment organisation address
Edgbastone
Birmingham
B15 2TT