COVID-19 Electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) in Secondary Care
Collection of data between 2019 and 2023 sourced from hospital ePMA systems relating to medicines prescribed and administered to patients, to support the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Data set versions as presented in the DARS online system
COVID-19 electronic Prescribing and Medicines Administration (ePMA) in Secondary Care
Access Method
The NHS England Secure Data Environment (SDE) service and extract
Data set available in packages
Packages are pre-defined groups of fields and or tables that allow a customer to select from a list that best meets their needs. Packages do not allow a customer to customise their field or table selection.
- Yes
Period of data coverage
01/01/2019 to 13/08/2023
Geographical scope of data
A limited number of NHS hospital trusts in England:
- NHS trusts using ePMA systems supplied by CareFlow Medicines Management (CMM) - only trusts with a CMM system that was live by August 2023 have been onboarded to this collection
- NHS ambulance trusts were not in scope
The Data Provision Notice states that trusts using systems supplied by Cerner were in scope, but those trusts did not join the collection.
Legal limitations applied to use
COVID-19 purposes only
Linkable to other data sets
- Yes - options for linking using either pseudonymised or identifiable data.
Associated data sets
Data collection process
Submitted by: Hospital dispensers using CareFlow Medicines Management ePMA systems
Collected by: NHS England
Frequency: Daily
Clinical coding systems
Does the data set include any standardised systems of coding?
- SNOMED-CT (a structured clinical vocabulary for use in electronic health records.)
- dm+d (dictionary of descriptions and codes which represent medicines and devices in use across the NHS.)
- UCUM (Unified Code for Units of Measure (UCUM) is a code system intended to include all units of measurement.)
Derived fields
Standardised formulation may be applied across multiple data sets to generate commonly derived fields. Any standard derivations applicable to this data set are listed below. Please note that this does not include bespoke derivations created specifically for the individual data set.
- LSOA_OF_RESIDENCE (The Lower Super Output Area (lowest level without being disclosive) covering the area in which the patient’s postcode falls. )
Third party licensing
Does the data set require copyrighted clinical assessment tools or outcome measures that require a licence?
- None
Advice and support
Governance of this data set is provided by:
Owning organisation: Department of Health and Social Care
Data Controller: NHS England and Department of Health and Social Care
Data Processor: NHS England
NHS England provides a variety of functions for the data sets we make available. Therefore, our knowledge and understanding of the data will vary, impacting the level of advice and support we can provide.
In relation to this data set, we undertake end to end management and can therefore provide a full advice, guidance and support service.
Last edited: 31 January 2025 11:42 am