Arriving or departing: Primary Care Annual Scientific Meeting
Olivia Jagger and Emily Donovan
From 3–5 July we attended the Society of Academic Primary Care (SAPC)’s annual scientific meeting (ASM), held at the University of Exeter. SAPC aims to advance primary care through education and research, and their stated goal is ‘to promote understanding of primary care - what it is and why it matters, and why academic primary care is an essential component of strong primary care’. This year’s conference theme was ‘Primary Care: Arriving? Or Departing?’ We are all aware of the challenges facing primary care, with changing socio-demographic population profiles, increased demand, decreased funding and challenges recruiting and retaining a dynamic, motivated workforce. As such, high-quality research is needed to provide evidence to address these challenges and shape the future of primary care. The conference programme reflected this issue, covering a range of research informing the design and delivery of high-quality clinical care as well as addressing organisational and behavioural aspects of primary care service development and delivery. The conference was opened in style by Ukrainian-born international opera singer Irtna Ilnytska, administration assistant at the University of Exeter and graduate of the Academy of Music, Milan; a reminder of how the UK benefits from the diverse talents of international workers. The conference included 128 oral presentations, specialist interest group meetings (https://sapc.ac.uk/special-interest-groups) and workshops, allowing attendees to personalise a programme most relevant for them.