Primary care research after the Act: why commissioners and academia need to work together.

driving the biggest shake-up in the NHS for a generation. The Act proposes a complete change in the NHS commissioning architecture, an increased emphasis on competition and choice, and a move of public health services to local authorities. From April 2013, primary care trusts (PCTs) and strategic health authorities will be abolished with their commissioning functions taken over by clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) and the NHS Commissioning Board (NHS CB). These changes represent very significant challenges for those within the NHS, particularly as they are coupled with the NHS' number-one priority of making £20 billion in productivity improvements to avoid a reduction in service quality. So how might these changes impact on research in primary care? And what opportunities could emerge from such a shake-up? THE TRANSITION FROM PCTS First, we need to identify, describe, and evaluate important existing roles of PCTs so they are not overlooked during the transition. Secondly, we need to think about how these changes could be made to work from a research and evidence perspective for the benefit of the academic community, the new commissioners, and most of all their patients.