About us
History
As one of Europe's oldest general practice (GP) sentinel networks, we have been the primary source for disease surveillance in England since 1957. In 2019 a collaboration was formed between the University of Oxford, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP), and the government’s UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to run the RCGP Research and Surveillance Centre (RSC).
Today
The ORCHID database is hosted by the Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences at the University of Oxford. We extract and aggregate data from primary care computer systems and other parts of the health system to monitor illnesses in England and Wales. We also conduct virology and serology sampling and deliver novel health research across the UK. Our network includes over 2000 volunteer GP practices.
The ORCHID database is a resource for UK-wide health research. It is a Trusted Research Environment (TRE) with expertly curated themed datasets and is used to undertake health research e.g. observational (cohort) and interventional (trial) studies.
What the University of Oxford provides to UKHSA for surveillance
- Management of a network of practices representative of at least 30% of patients registered at GP practices within England
- Management of virology and serology samples from patients presenting with ARI symptoms to GP practices
- Weekly Linked Virology Dataset
- Weekly Morbidity Data
- Weekly Syndromic Surveillance
- Weekly Reports including a public facing report, published on RCGP’s website - https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/research-at-rcgp/research-surveillance-centre/public-health-data
- Weekly updated virology and serology dashboards – add links
- Quarterly Serology Dataset
- Annual: Influenza Vaccine Effectiveness Dataset
- Annual reports for UKHSA https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/infectious-diseases-impacting-england-2025-report and RCGP https://www.rcgp.org.uk/representing-you/research-at-rcgp/research-surveillance-centre/public-health-data
- Ad Hoc Data Extracts
