iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

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.uk

Come to Cory Doctorow’s keynote lecture at the 2026 Bennett Oxford Symposium on Open Code in Science! | Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science

Join us for Cory Doctorow’s closing keynote at the 2026 Bennett Oxford Symposium on Open Code in Science!

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ShinyBlackShoe (Calum Polwart) @shinyblackshoe.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

#BOPA2026 Are you wanting to track your SC switch progress against your peers? 👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Imo they should focus on making the data available as this would reduce reliance on one organisation having staff available My 5k words on it pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35634533/

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

A nice monthly updating chart here of regional variation hospitals.openprescribing.net/measures/pem...

hospitals.openprescribing.net

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Have you got an link to/ image of the poster ? We've been looking closely at pembrolizumab_sc recently hospitals.openprescribing.net/measures/pem...

hospitals.openprescribing.net

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I think we got some of the way there during the pandemic with assembling national data on high cost cancer drugs pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35634533/ But we've regressed. So def better done once.....but its hard !

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Things that use meds data that we can maybe learn from for OpenPrescribing or OpenSAFELY, implement new measures and/or collaborate !

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Will they all be online at some stage ?

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Not even his most incisive take of the week.....ruined traitors for me tonight

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

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.uk

New AIR/MART inhaler measure launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals | Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science

New AIR/MART inhaler measure has launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

bennett.ox.ac.uk

New AIR/MART inhaler measure launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals | Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science

New AIR/MART inhaler measure has launched in OpenPrescribing and OpenPrescribing Hospitals

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Have you any recommendations for a single article that I could read to get a gist of the scandals ?

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Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science @bennettoxford.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

For #WorldPatientSafetyDay, we’re highlighting two OpenPrescribing measures that help NHS teams examine the prescribing of oral morphine solution. 🔍Explore the measures: openprescribing.net/measure/morphin… openprescribing.net/measure/morphin…

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Primary Healthcare Specialist Group (British Computer Society) @phcsg.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

🚨 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.com

45th Annual Conference, Education Day & AGM 2026

The 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 · 09/09/2026

🧵 1/6 📢 New on OpenPrescribing-Hospitals: subcutaneous pembrolizumab hospitals.openprescribing.net/measures/pem... We’ve rapidly added a new measure so you can see how every NHS hospital is getting on with the rollout of rapid pembrolizumab injections. #medsky #pharmsky

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

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 · 09/09/2026

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

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I say potentially because announcing a rollout and actually making it happen across the NHS are two different things… 😬 (More on implementation of cancer treatments another time!) But now we can actually see how the rollout is going. hospitals.openprescribing.net/measures/pem...

hospitals.openprescribing.net

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

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.uk

NHS England » ‘1-minute’ immunotherapy jab rolled out on NHS for tens of thousands with cancer

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

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 · 18/08/2026

Tell your mates. Share the link locally. Use the data to inform implementation discussions and plans. And then come back next month and see what's changed. That's the joy of open NHS data. 📈 hospitals.openprescribing.net/analyse/?ing...

hospitals.openprescribing.net

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

In the olden days, answering that might have meant FOI requests, contacting hospitals one by one, and waiting months for responses. Now we can do it in seconds with OpenPrescribing. See where teplizumab is being issued across NHS trusts in England 👇 hospitals.openprescribing.net/analyse/?ing...

hospitals.openprescribing.net

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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.uk

What Are the Top 10 Most Frequently Recorded Clinical Codes in NHS GP Records | Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science

OpenCodeCounts is an open-access, online interactive tool - we use it to find the 10 most used codes across general practice in England.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Cheaper than a letter.....paperless NHS?

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Hayley Wickens @bughayleyw.pharmsky.app · 11/08/2026

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

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

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.

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

bennett.ox.ac.uk

What Are the Top 10 Most Frequently Recorded Clinical Codes in NHS GP Records | Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science

OpenCodeCounts is an open-access, online interactive tool - we use it to find the 10 most used codes across general practice in England.

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Nick DeVito @ndevito1.bsky.social · 31/07/2026

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

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Euan Reid @euanreid.pharmsky.app · 30/07/2026

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.com

Tocilizumab versus sarilumab among adults hospitalised with COVID-19: target trial emulation across England and Scotland - Nature Communications

Using 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...

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Tocilizumab versus sarilumab among adults hospitalised with COVID-19: target trial emulation across England and Scotland New paper from OpenSAFELY and Scotland. doi.org/10.1038/s414... Blog from @lshtm.bsky.social Prof @laurietomlinson.bsky.social communities.springernature.com/posts/when-t...

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

Personal preference, formulary status, price, margin, popups, recommendations from all sorts of folk...... I think vit D is a good bit messier than most other meds in terms of choice influence. We have been taking a look at testing, more soon!

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

I should be clear that the £45m is for vitamin D alone. £1 per person is a lot of money....but even if we think that amount of vit D is worth it, link above shows the NHS could save a lot of money if cheaper products were used

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 19/07/2026

It still makes me go wow, that the NHS spends £45million per year on Vitamin D. openprescribing.net/measure/vita...

openprescribing.net

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Brian @brianmackenna.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

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".

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Bennett Institute for Applied Data Science @bennettoxford.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

🏥 Is andexanet alfa use changing in your hospital or region? Our latest blog post reviews the latest safety updates and shows how OpenPrescribing Hospitals can support local audits. Read more 👉 www.bennett.ox.ac.uk/blog/2026/07/a…

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