Navigating the academic primary care world: Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) conference adventures, by Dr Sara Eddy

Posted by ma403

22 April 2026

I am relatively new to the academic primary care world, being previously based in secondary care and wider multidisciplinary settings, so I was not sure what to expect from the Society for Academic Primary Care (SAPC) South West conference.

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/primarycare/news/events/2025/08/south-west-sapc-conference-2026.page

After arriving in Southampton (academic poster tube in hand) and massively winning the hotel room lottery (yes, I got a balcony!) my colleague and I went for a walk to see the sights, thanks to the recommendations of the SAPC team. We had plenty of time to situate ourselves, and the 15th Century Tudor House and historic medieval town walls, with notable Norman influence, and features dating from the 10^th Century (and prior), provided us with a beautiful setting for our trip.

The first day of the conference was buzzing, everyone ready to absorb the knowledge being disseminated by leading researchers, academics, clinicians and colleagues in the field. A particular highlight for me was being able to attend Exeter Collaboration for Academic Primary Care (APEx), Exeter and Plymouth colleagues’ presentations, to both support them, and to also learn about all the amazing things they are achieving. You do not always get to hear, in-depth, about your colleagues’ research, when passing hurriedly in the corridor, and so the conference provided a perfect opportunity to listen and learn.

There is a wide range of research being conducted by colleagues in the primary care space, including a focus on patient groups, conditions and models of care: ‘Models of care for individuals with Multiple Long-Term Conditions’, ‘Efforts to improve equality in patients with multiple long-term conditions’, ‘Engagement with Asthma interventions’, ‘Underdiagnosis in Coeliac Disease’, ‘Communication tool intervention aimed at improving cancer diagnosis pathways, for patients with anxiety and/or depression’ andthe impact of factors such as ‘polypharmacy’. There is exploration of key factors at the staff level such as ‘How to support and retain experienced GP’s’, and broader level concepts such as ‘continuity of care’, being explored from different perspectives including, ‘How are multidisciplinary teams impacting continuity of care’ and ‘relational continuity of care in general practice’. All my colleagues’ research can be explored in more detail in the SW SAPC conference booklet, with authors noted, if you are interested in reading more about their work or making connections:

https://www.southampton.ac.uk/leaf_content/uploads/swsapc_2026_abstract_booklet_06032026.pdf

I was attending the conference to present work on behalf of the Re-CONNECT study and Chief Investigator Dr Nada Khan: ‘Lets Reconnect’: A Realist Evaluation of Continuity of Care in General Practice: Introducing the Re-CONNECT Study. The full research protocol is available here on our study website: https://sites.exeter.ac.uk/reconnect/.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many people came to speak to me during my poster presentation sessions. I know that some people choose not to stand by their posters during conferences, but for me it was very valuable, as a presenter, to be able to discuss my work and get asked those unexpected, (sometimes) tricky questions. I discussed our research and methods, in much more detail than I was anticipating, and this experience gave me a lot to think about when moving forward with the remaining fieldwork and analysis.

The highlight for me when presenting, was the feedback that I received from Patient and Public Involvement and Engagement (PPIE) representatives, who had thoroughly examined my poster and the story it was telling. They took the time to wait, and speak to me, in-depth about their personal experiences, and their engagement with my work. This meant a huge amount to me personally, as I hold PPIE at the heart of a lot of what I do as a researcher (and as a person), so I really appreciated this.

An additional bonus was that we were fortunate enough to have our work recognised by the conference organisers and attendees, as we won the SW SAPC Poster Prize for Best ECR Poster, and that was an ‘amazing cherry on the top of a wonderful conference cake’. I am very thankful to everyone who engaged with our poster, all those who came to talk to me, and a particular thanks goes to all my colleagues who came to support me during those poster sessions. I am super happy with my award certificate, so a big thank you to everyone for their role in that!

So, finally, to pay homage to the beautiful conference venue balcony, it is hard to describe the view, after a full two days of primary care, academic knowledge sharing, experiences, making connections with colleagues and all of the personal learning…the juxtaposition of looking across the Port of Southampton, to see a skyline filled with international Naval warships, colossal cruise ships with painted faces, and a local resident taking his cat for an early evening walk…SW SAPC you were fun!.

Sara