Primary care research and clinical practice: respiratory disease.

Primary care respiratory research has contributed to the evidence base for both the clinical care of common long-term respiratory conditions and the management of acute respiratory illness. Key areas include investigating the role of remote consultations in ensuring regular professional reviews for people with asthma, understanding and evaluating the use of technology to support patient self-care, exploring aspects of the shift of services for long-term conditions from secondary to primary care, investigating primary care prescribing using computerised databases of anonymised medical records, and tackling inequalities in provision of care for ethnic minorities. Further research will be needed in all these areas as the ongoing and increasing challenge of providing support for people with long-term conditions will demand innovative approaches to organisation of care, many of which will involve or be led by primary care.