Brian

Brian

@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Pharmacist | MPH | Data

433 followers288 following329 posts

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

We are hosting a conference on Open Code in Science in Oxford. The magnificent @doctorow.pluralistic.net will be giving the closing keynote! It will be FREE to attend in Oxford in the beautiful exam schools. More details and booking 👇 www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/10...

bennett.ox.ac.ukCome to Cory Doctorow’s keynote lecture at the 2026 Bennett Oxford Symposium on Open Code in Science! | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceJoin us for Cory Doctorow’s closing keynote at the 2026 Bennett Oxford Symposium on Open Code in Science!

Brian reposted

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

More from @news.rte.ie on the Irish health service's growing use of opioids. I wrote about this on Linkedin earlier this year www.linkedin.com/pulse/irish-...

linkedin.comThe Irish health service needs to confront its opioid problemRecent research shows Ireland has amongst the highest over-the-counter codeine sales internationally, and that prescriptions for painkillers, particularly opioids, have risen steadily over the last de...
RTÉ News@news.rte.ie

The estimated consumption of opioid pain medication under the General Medical Services scheme increased by more than 10% between 2018 and 2025, according to a new RTÉ Investigates analysis of HSE data

rte.ieRise in prescription opioid use under public drug schemeThe use of opioid pain medication under Ireland's main community drug scheme has increased by more than 10% since 2018, according to a new RTÉ Investigates analysis.
Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

More from @news.rte.ie on the Irish health service's growing use of opioids. I wrote about this on Linkedin earlier this year www.linkedin.com/pulse/irish-...

linkedin.comThe Irish health service needs to confront its opioid problemRecent research shows Ireland has amongst the highest over-the-counter codeine sales internationally, and that prescriptions for painkillers, particularly opioids, have risen steadily over the last de...
RTÉ News@news.rte.ie

The estimated consumption of opioid pain medication under the General Medical Services scheme increased by more than 10% between 2018 and 2025, according to a new RTÉ Investigates analysis of HSE data

rte.ieRise in prescription opioid use under public drug schemeThe use of opioid pain medication under Ireland's main community drug scheme has increased by more than 10% since 2018, according to a new RTÉ Investigates analysis.

Brian reposted

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Respiratory Folk New AIR/MART inhaler measure to monitor the impact of the changes introduced in the BTS/NICE/SIGN asthma guideline across English general practices and hospitals Audit your organisations progress! www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/09... #medsky #pharmsky

bennett.ox.ac.ukNew AIR/MART inhaler measure launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceNew AIR/MART inhaler measure has launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals
Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Respiratory Folk New AIR/MART inhaler measure to monitor the impact of the changes introduced in the BTS/NICE/SIGN asthma guideline across English general practices and hospitals Audit your organisations progress! www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/09... #medsky #pharmsky

bennett.ox.ac.ukNew AIR/MART inhaler measure launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceNew AIR/MART inhaler measure has launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals

Brian reposted

Primary Healthcare Specialist Group (British Computer Society)
@phcsg.bsky.social

🚨 Our speaker line-up is shaping up to be something special! Hear from Prof. Ben Goldacre, Brian MacKenna, Dr Anne-Marie Cunningham, Prof. Tony Avery, Prof. Simon de Lusignan & Dr Neil Paul at the BCS PHCSG Annual Conference & Education Day 2026. 12-13 November - Oxford 🎟️ tinyurl.com/PHCSGConf26

tinyurl.com45th Annual Conference, Education Day & AGM 2026The BCS Primary Health Care Specialist Group (PHCSG) is holding its 45th Annual Conference at the voco Oxford Thames hotel, near Oxford. Join us on Thursday 12 November-Friday 13 November 2026 from 9:...
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Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

The NHS has published its May hospital medicines data. We’ve rapidly implemented a new OpenPrescribing-Hospitals measure showing adoption of subcutaneous pembrolizumab. You can explore it by hospital, ICB, region and nationally

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

6/6 We hope NHS teams use it to compare trusts, spot where adoption is faster and share practical solutions. We shipped this in the first month of the programme because it’s what users needed. Need routine measures for your hospital medicines programme? Shout at us! 📣 (Or politely email)

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Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

In May, NHS England announced support for rolling out subcutaneous pembrolizumab. These injections take just a few minutes to administer. Less time in hospital for patients. More time freed up for clinicians. Potentially a game changer. www.england.nhs.uk/2026/05/1-mi...

england.nhs.ukNHS England » ‘1-minute’ immunotherapy jab rolled out on NHS for tens of thousands with cancerNHS England » ‘1-minute’ immunotherapy jab rolled out on NHS for tens of thousands with cancer
Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Pembrolizumab (aka Keytruda) is an important cancer treatment, used across lung, breast, head & neck, cervical and other cancers. Until recently it was given by intravenous infusion.....meaning patients could spend hours in hospital getting treatment.

Brian reposted

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Teplizumab (Tzield) and the NHS. NICE has recommended teplizumab for delaying the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in people aged 8+ with stage 2 T1D. So..................... How much is the NHS actually using it? #MedSky #PharmaSky #T1D

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Teplizumab (Tzield) and the NHS. NICE has recommended teplizumab for delaying the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in people aged 8+ with stage 2 T1D. So..................... How much is the NHS actually using it? #MedSky #PharmaSky #T1D

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Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

So we wouldn't really expect uptake following the NICE recommendation to show up until around October. What we're seeing now is very much the beginning of the story. And that's what makes being able to follow the data month by month so useful.

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Teplizumab (Tzield) and the NHS. NICE has recommended teplizumab for delaying the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in people aged 8+ with stage 2 T1D. So..................... How much is the NHS actually using it? #MedSky #PharmaSky #T1D

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Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

And the really useful bit? The data updates every month - on that very same link. So we can follow the rollout of teplizumab across England over time. And see where use is (and isn't) appearing. At the moment, Manchester is using a bit Broadly speaking, though, there's not much use yet.

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Don't rush to a conclusion - that's completely as expected! Because of two important technical points: 1️⃣ NHS medicines data are published with a lag. The latest data currently available is May 2026. 2️⃣ After a NICE decision, the NHS has 90 days to make the treatment available.

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Teplizumab (Tzield) and the NHS. NICE has recommended teplizumab for delaying the onset of stage 3 type 1 diabetes in people aged 8+ with stage 2 T1D. So..................... How much is the NHS actually using it? #MedSky #PharmaSky #T1D

Brian reposted

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

What does the NHS actually record most often about us? It’s probably not what you think. We looked at the most frequently recorded clinical codes in NHS GP records 👇 New(ish) blog and quick 🧵 www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/03...

bennett.ox.ac.ukWhat Are the Top 10 Most Frequently Recorded Clinical Codes in NHS GP Records | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceOpenCodeCounts is an open-access, online interactive tool - we use it to find the 10 most used codes across general practice in England.

Brian reposted

Hayley Wickens
@bughayleyw.pharmsky.app

Always interesting to see what is going on with data in the NHS... Nice new tool to play with too! 👏

Brian@brianmackenna.bsky.social

What does the NHS actually record most often about us? It’s probably not what you think. We looked at the most frequently recorded clinical codes in NHS GP records 👇 New(ish) blog and quick 🧵 www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/03...

bennett.ox.ac.ukWhat Are the Top 10 Most Frequently Recorded Clinical Codes in NHS GP Records | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceOpenCodeCounts is an open-access, online interactive tool - we use it to find the 10 most used codes across general practice in England.
Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

That’s because a GP health record isn’t a perfect summary of someone’s health. It’s basically a record of interactions general practice people working in the NHS have had with you, and the things they want to remember or tell their colleagues about.

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Doctors, pharmacists, nurses, HCAs, pharmacy techs, practice managers and many others all contribute to GP records. So what actually gets recorded tells us something about how primary care works day to day.

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

It’s not what researchers wish was recorded. And it’s not the exciting diagnoses that make it into fancy pants papers. Asthma? Diabetes? Contraception? Nope.

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

The things that appear again and again are much more everyday. Text messages. Your phone number. Your blood pressure. The boring stuff turns out to be incredibly common.

Brian reposted

Nick DeVito
@ndevito1.bsky.social

Good morning! Check this out! Share it with your friends! Think about things to submit! We’d love to see you there!

Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science@bennettoxford.bsky.social

Registration is open for the 2026 Bennett Oxford Symposium on Open Code in Science! 📅 8-9 December 2026 📍 The Examination Schools, University of Oxford, 75-81 High St, Oxford OX1 4BG ℹ️ https://www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/events/2026-bennett-institute-symposium/ We look forward to seeing you there!

Brian reposted

Euan Reid
@euanreid.pharmsky.app

Are tocilizumab & sarilumab equally effective for severe COVID-19? A new @natcomms.nature.com study of 10k+NHS hospital patients in England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 & Scotland 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 shows no difference in 28-day mortality or time to discharge. Both IL-6 inhibitors are equally effective options www.nature.com/articles/s41...

nature.comTocilizumab versus sarilumab among adults hospitalised with COVID-19: target trial emulation across England and Scotland - Nature CommunicationsUsing electronic health record databases in England and Scotland, this study compared tocilizumab and sarilumab in over 10,000 hospitalised COVID-19 patients and found no meaningful difference in surv...
Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

This is a very enjoyable editorial even though its a long time since I worked in a hospital and had to deal with "DIY meds".

JP Lomas@jplomas.bsky.social

We don’t make our own toothpaste. So why are we still “making” so many injectable medicines at the point of care? New editorial on why anaesthesia should lead the move to ready-to-administer medicines. associationofanaesth... #prefilledsyringes #anaesthesia @Anaes_Journal 1/10

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Our poster on this very topic is now up at #ISTH2026 Go and speak to the excellent Vicky Speed about the lovely OpenPrescribing.

Brian@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Andexanet alfa: data and tools to audit your use in England just in time for #ISTH2026 www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/07... #hemesky #medsky #pharmsky short thread 🧵

bennett.ox.ac.ukAndexanet alfa: a safety audit using OpenPrescribing Hospitals | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceAn analysis of andexanet alfa issuing in NHS trust in England using OpenPrescribing Hospitals
Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

OpenPrescribing for Hospitals is a innovative software tool that allows anyone to see openly available hospital medicines use - we have tools, measures and dashboards for every hospital in england. Read more and how to use it to support AA review here www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/07... end.

bennett.ox.ac.ukAndexanet alfa: a safety audit using OpenPrescribing Hospitals | Bennett Institute for Applied Data ScienceAn analysis of andexanet alfa issuing in NHS trust in England using OpenPrescribing Hospitals

Brian reposted

Ben Goldacre
@bengoldacre.bsky.social

HISTORIC MOMENT Today at 14:40 Dr Mark Russell from KCL pressed the button to execute the first ever job on the new OpenSAFELY service. Until today, OpenSAFELY was COVID only. Now we are open to critical analyses that improve all patient care, on GP records, securely, at scale. PICS! THREAD!

Brian reposted

Brian
@brianmackenna.bsky.social

Ireland has amongst the highest over-the-counter codeine sales worldwide. Meanwhile opioid prescribing in Ireland has ↗️, whilst ↙️ in Eng. Me on why the Irish health service should confront its opioid use www.linkedin.com/pulse/irish-... brief🧵 #SpeirGorm #SpéirGhorm #pharmsky #medsky

linkedin.comThe Irish health service needs to confront its opioid problemRecent research shows Ireland has amongst the highest over-the-counter codeine sales internationally, and that prescriptions for painkillers, particularly opioids, have risen steadily over the last de...