ABSTRACT
This chapter is concerned with the collection of data from primary care using standardised methods. A research unit concerned with morbidity recording was visualised with the establishment of the College of General Practitioners. Prior to the official establishment of the College Records Unit, officers of the College had been involved in the design and prosecution of the first general practice-based morbidity study. In this study, doctors summarised the content of the consultation using diagnostic or, if not practicable, symptomatic terms compatible with the International Classification of Disease. The diagnostic index was introduced into general practice by Tev Eimerl and gave a major boost to information gathering in primary care. Analysis of material stored in diagnostic indexes provides three levels of epidemiological study detail: persons consulting; episode; consultation. With the development of group practices general practitioners in the UK advantage has been eroded slightly, but nevertheless a defined population is cared for by a defined group of doctors.
