Practice and Patient Recruitment in Primary Care

Professor Andrew Murphy is the Director of the HRB Primary Care Clinical Trials Network Ireland. Andrew is also the Professor of General Practice at NUI Galway and a GP in Turloughmore Medical Centre. Prof Murphy has a distinguished research career, including leading a clinical trial on the provision of secondary cardiac care in the community which was, at the time, the largest academic-lead trial ever conducted on the island of Ireland. Andrew’s  research, largely quantitative and always collaborative, addresses chronic disease management and professional practice in the community. In leading this Network, he builds on previous collaborations with partners in RSCI, QUB and the ICGP. With significant input from the public/patient guiding the research, Andrew has a vision that this Network will break new ground to answer common problems in primary care, that will improve individual patient health and healthcare

Dr Ray O’Connor is a GP Fellow with the HRB Primary Care Clinical Trials Network Ireland , working to develop and implement a general practice information program of assessment, feedback and training intended to improve the quality of data recording in the network. He has worked in the Irish healthcare system continuously, working primarily in deprived areas of Limerick city. Dr O’Connor is also very active in teaching in Limerick, as medical director of the Medical Exercise programme, assistant programme director of the Mid-West Specialist Training Programme in General Practice, and group leader of an ICGP small group continuing medical education. From 2017 to 2019, Dr. O’Connor was a senior research fellow in the department of general practice at the University of Limerick Graduate Entry Medical School. His research interests are varied, including chronic disease management and education. He has published 56 papers in peer-reviewed publications over the last 33 years and has acted as a Reviewer for Primary Healthcare Research and Development, Irish Medical Journal, BMJ Open and Journal of Thoracic Disease.