Therapeutics Dataset from COVID-19 Medicine Delivery Units in England

Background

Between December 2021 and June 2023, COVID-19 medicine delivery units (CMDUs) in England offered antiviral medicines and neutralising monoclonal antibodies to non-hospitalised individuals with COVID-19, identified at high risk of developing severe outcomes. In order to prescribe and supply medicines CMDUs were required to notify NHS England of every prescription via an electronic form. This data was supplied to OpenSAFELY, a secure analytics platform for electronic patient records, as the COVID-19 “Therapeutics” dataset. We aimed to explore the analytic potential of the dataset for research into the use and effectiveness of these therapeutics offered by CMDUs.

Methods

Working on behalf of NHS England, we assessed the content and data quality of the COVID-19 Therapeutics dataset within OpenSAFELY. We focused on therapeutics provided in outpatient settings by CMDUs. We described for each field the: data format, completeness and summarised its content.

Results

The COVID-19 Therapeutics dataset contained 18 columns and 58,590 rows of data, for 54,435 distinct patient IDs (92.9%) treated in outpatient settings. The dataset was well-structured, with completeness of almost all fields of 100%. The dataset included details on the specific treatment received, date administered, high-risk group(s) to which the patient belonged and the region in which they were assessed. The values were largely plausible.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 Therapeutics dataset is well-structured, complete, and is suitable for research. The dataset is made available for all researchers in OpenSAFELY where it is linked to other data sources (e.g., primary care), enabling important research.