Position papers in development


Scope:
The papers deal with Primary Care in Europe, and therefore should be based and focus on practice and policies in many countries or at least in a number of countries. Examples of policies and practices in a range of countries are a key element of the Position Paper. Although emphasis may be on EU countries, non-EU countries are included in the European Forum for Primary and hence in its Position Papers. There is no objective to include information or evidence from all countries; it is variation and diversity that counts. Highlights and issues count rather than completeness of data: qualitative data above quantitative. Where possible position papers present a consensus about the issues discussed in the paper. However, it should be stressed that especially organizational and policy issues surrounding primary care are context dependent, implicating that different solutions may be optimal for different contexts. On particular topics, a position paper might also be a positions paper.
The paper has a maximum of 10 pages, excluding references and annexes.

Procedures surrounding position papers.

Papers in development: 
Published Position Papers
  Process for development of Position Papers  
The European Forum for Primary Care commissions the development of the Position Paper to a particular institute or organisation - on basis of an call among its members. For the purpose a contract is signed, which includes a time frame and end date – date at which the Position Paper is submitted to the Advisory Committee for endorsement (see below).

Under leadership of the coordinating institute, a first framework or draft version of the paper is developed and presented through the channels of the EFPC and the network of the coordinating institute. The institute identifies a number of experts, representing different experiences in various countries including one representative of the European Forum for Primary Care Advisory Committee. The experts are invited to contribute by email or otherwise, during conferences and other occasions. Apart from the email communication, for each Position Paper there need to be at least 2 workshops or debates with physical attendance of a number of relevant persons. One workshop should be placed within an existing conference like the annual conferences of WONCA Europe, EUPHA, EFN, EHMA, Enothe, WENR, etc.