Therapeutics Dataset from COVID-19 Medicine Delivery Units in England: an OpenSAFELY Data Report [version 2; peer review: 2 approved with reservations]

Background: Between December 2021 and June 2023, COVID-19 medicine delivery units (CMDUs) in England offered antiviral medicines and neutralising monoclonal antibodies (paxlovid, sotrovimab, molnupiravir, remdesivir, and casirivimab/imdevimab) 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.

Conclusion: The COVID-19 Therapeutics dataset is well-structured, complete, and is suitable for research. It is linked to other data sources in OpenSAFELY (e.g., primary care), enabling important research on the impact of treatment and health disparities.</ns3:p>