June 15, 2026

Medicines dispensing data can paint a picture of health inequalities

Medicines data, patient characteristics, and medical outcomes aren’t routinely linked, so healthcare professionals and policymakers can’t fully track how medicines are used, how safe they are, or their value for money.

Linking this data at an individual level for COVID-19 related research enabled the scientists to understand for the first time how medicines use changed during and after the pandemic.

Now a new study of 5.8 billion dispensed medicines has revealed new insights into changing trends in medicines use for more than 52 million people living in England during and after the COVID-19 pandemic and shocking new data on the extent of health inequalities.

The study used health records for 52.6 million people living in England from November 2019 to December 2024, covering the whole COVID-19 pandemic period and recovery afterwards. 

The study was published in Nature Health. Journalists came to this briefing to hear from some of the authors of the study, and to ask their questions. 

Speakers included:

Dr Caroline Dale, Tenure Track Fellow, University of Liverpool

Prof Reecha Sofat, Associate Director of the BHF Data Science Centre at Health Data Research UK and NIHR Research Professor at the University of Liverpool