gms | German Medical Science

Background: The European Medical Research Councils (EMRC) at the European Science Foundation is the membership organisation for all the medical research councils in Europe. It has discussed the question: ‘How can the treatment of patients be improved through better research and better use and implementation of research results?’ These issues were analysed, discussed and debated by more than 90 European participants and summarised in a Report. Its main conclusions are:

• Clinical practice guidelines can make an important contribution to implementing research findings in practice.
• Primary care has a key role to play, both in research and in using the results of research. Research results derived from studies done by hospital specialists can be difficult to use in general practice because the spectrum of patients seen in primary care often differs from those seen in hospital.
• The Report calls for greater involvement of patients and the public at all stages of research. Healthcare professionals should communicate the importance of research to patients – including information about possible risks as well as possible benefits. The Report’s recommendations have been discussed in follow-up meetings and an action plan has been agreed.

Objectives/Goal: The objective is to present and discuss the action plan and its implementation among different working groups (patient & public, knowledge transfer and general practice).

Target group, suggested audience Healthcare professionals, EbM, HTA and guideline specialists.