Researchers from CaHRU attended the national Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) Annual Scientific Meeting at the University of Nottingham from Wednesday 3rd – Friday 5th July 2013. The 42nd Conference of the SAPC was jointly organised by the Universities of Nottingham and Leicester, with the over-arching aim of ‘Making a Difference’. There was also an element of poignancy about the conference, dedicated as it was to the memory of Professor Helen Lester, who was hugely influential in the development of the SAPC into the thriving organisation it is today.

On the opening afternoon’s poster session, there was a lot of interest in Jo Middlemass’ work on her qualitative study of Patients’ and Clinicians’ Experiences and Perceptions of the Primary Care Management of Insomnia. The first full day opened with a keynote speech by former Health Secretary, Stephen Dorrell on the meaning of Primary Care. This was then followed by a lively session where four presenters proposed some ‘dangerous ideas’, which the audience were invited to vote on.

In the following Thursday afternoon session, there were two presentations from members of the CaHRU team. First, Coral Sirdifield presented a systematic review and meta-synthesis on ‘Clinicians’ Experiences and Perceptions of Benzodiazepine Prescribing in Western Primary Care Settings’. Later in the session, Fiona Togher presented her research on ‘What Service Users Value in their Experience of Emergency Ambulance Use’. On the final morning session of the conference, Zahid Asghar presented a ‘Self-Controlled Study on Influenza Vaccination and the Risk of Stroke’. The presentations and posters were well-received and all provoked informative discussions.

The Conference wasn’t all about work, work, work; there was also time to relax. Thursday night’s Bollywood-themed conference dinner was excellent. Delegates were provided with a rapid lesson on Indian dancing techniques such as ‘changing a light bulb’ and ‘stroking a Labrador’. The Bollywood dancers were very impressive in their hand-eye co-ordination; some of the delegates less so!

Co-Chair, Professor Kamlesh Khunti, from the University of Leicester presided over the closing session, in which a number of prizes were awarded for outstanding presentations. There was also a taster of what to expect from next year’s Conference in Edinburgh, where CaHRU will once again have a strong presence!

Viet-Hai Phung