Skip to main content

Prototype Prescribing Outlier Dashboard for Wham PCN

At OpenPrescribing we are piloting a number of data-driven approaches to identify unusual prescribing and collect feedback on this prescribing to inform development of new tools to support prescribers and organisations to audit and review prescribing. These pilot results are provided for the interest of advanced users, although we don't know how relevant they are in practice. There is substantial variation in prescribing behaviours, across various different areas of medicine. Some variation can be explained by demographic changes, or local policies or guidelines, but much of the remaining variation is less easy to explain.

The DataLab is keen to hear your feedback on the results. You can do this by completing the following survey or emailing us at [email protected]. Please DO NOT INCLUDE IDENTIFIABLE PATIENT information in your feedback. All feedback is helpful, you can send short or detailed feedback.

This report has been developed to automatically identify prescribing patterns at a chemical level which are furthest away from “typical prescribing” and can be classified as an “outlier”. We calculate the number of prescriptions for each chemical in the BNF coding system, the count of all prescriptions within that chemical's BNF subparagraph, for prescriptions dispensed between June 2021 and December 2021. We then calculate the ratio of these counts along with the mean and standard deviation of those ratios across all PCNs. From this we can calculate the “z-score”, which is a measure of how many standard deviations a given PCN is from the population mean. We then rank your “z-scores” to find the top 10 results where prescribing is an outlier for prescribing higher than its peers and those where it is an outlier for prescribing lower than its peers.

For each outlier chemical, a kernel density estimation plot of all PCN's chemical:subparagraph ratios is provided, with this PCN's ratio overlaid in red.

It is important to remember that this information was generated automatically and it is therefore likely that some of the behaviour is warranted. This report seeks only to collect information about where this variation may be warranted and where it might not, to inform research on this topic. Our full analytical method code is openly available on GitHub here.

This is a new, experimental feature. We'd love to .

Prescribing where Wham PCN is higher than most

BNF Chemical Chemical Items BNF Subparagraph Subparagraph Items Ratio Mean std Z_Score Plots
Benzbromarone 4 Gout and cytotoxic induced hyperiuicaemia 1,930 0.00 0.00 0.00 8.32
Mepivacaine hydrochloride 47 Local anaesthetics 415 0.11 0.00 0.01 8.28
Trientine dihydrochloride 2 Drugs used in metabolic disorders 2 1.00 0.02 0.13 7.76
Tinidazole 1 Metronidazole, tinidazole and ornidazole 211 0.00 0.00 0.00 6.74
Fluocortolone 8 Copound haemorrhoidal preparations with corticosteroid 529 0.02 0.00 0.00 6.04
Indometacin 126 Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs 3,010 0.04 0.01 0.01 5.25
Tioconazole 35 Antifungal preparations 544 0.06 0.01 0.01 5.20
Liquid paraffin 24 Tear deficiency, eye lubricant/astringent 706 0.03 0.01 0.01 4.36
Magnesium hydroxide 11 Antacids and simeticone 21 0.52 0.04 0.12 4.11
Colestyramine 82 Lipid-regulating drugs 16,937 0.00 0.00 0.00 3.77

Prescribing where Wham PCN is lower than most

BNF Chemical Chemical Items BNF Subparagraph Subparagraph Items Ratio Mean std Z_Score Plots
Metronidazole 210 Metronidazole, tinidazole and ornidazole 211 1.00 1.00 0.00 -6.74
Sildenafil (Erectile Dysfunction) 686 Drugs for erectile dysfunction 1,147 0.60 0.76 0.05 -3.09
Doxazosin mesilate 1,480 Alpha-adrenoceptor blocking drugs 1,538 0.96 0.99 0.01 -2.66
Zinc oxide 19 Soothing haemorrhoidal preparations 41 0.46 0.78 0.13 -2.40
Solifenacin 341 Drugs for urinary frequency enuresis and incontinence 2,080 0.16 0.33 0.08 -2.08
Apixaban 1,014 Oral anticoagulants 6,000 0.17 0.41 0.12 -1.96
Lidocaine hydrochloride 324 Local anaesthetics 415 0.78 0.91 0.07 -1.89
Medroxyprogesterone acetate 88 Parenteral progestogen-only contraceptives 131 0.67 0.86 0.10 -1.83
Oral rehydration salts 70 Oral sodium and water 230 0.30 0.65 0.20 -1.76
Chloramphenicol 423 Antibacterials 610 0.69 0.80 0.06 -1.76