Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of opinion leaders and parents/young people’s representatives (n = 18). A matrix was used to ensure representation of different clinical interests eg genetic disease, asthma, and perspectives eg bioethics, national youth organisation, researchers, lobby groups. Eighty three adult and young people (<18 yrs) were approached. The interview schedule included understanding of need for, and systems of, pharmacovigilance, current use of routine data, concerns about the proposed data linkage, solutions to address concerns. Interviews were conducted primarily face-to-face but also using telephone and Skype. All were audio-recorded and

fully transcribed. Responses were analysed inductively and deductively allowing exploration of the original research AZD6244 purchase questions and identification of emergent themes. A framework approach was applied to the data by a process of constant review, identifying main themes and subthemes. Twenty percent of those approached consented to be interviewed and sixteen people were interviewed: Department of Health (n = 1), professional role in a charity (n = 7), research selleck organisation (n = 1), Think Tank (n = 1), National Youth Organisation (n = 5),

bio-ethical specialist (n = 1); at this point no issues were emerging and saturation was assumed. Participants had a limited understanding of the way in which routinely collected NHS data is currently used, and most expected that that the NHS would already be using anonymised nationally collected health data for purposes such as pharmacovigilance. Thiamine-diphosphate kinase Five main themes were identified: awareness of medicine safety

(‘Yeah, well it’s important (monitoring ADRs)… cos if it’s not safe then you know you can’t prescribe it’); privacy and confidentiality (‘.. just take as much information as you can get without leaving it open to someone to interpret … find out who it belongs to’); data linkage (‘I would be comfortable with it, I’m not sure if parents might be less comfortable’); trust relationships (‘because simply that trust (in the NHS) is there … they know that the information that’s already there about their health care has been in safe hands for many years’); and public engagement (‘I think it would have to be sold very, very well to parents… because the whole issue of digital information is scary for some people with their records being shared and not knowing about it’). Although further work needs to be done to confirm the generalisability of these findings, the construction of and use of a paediatric pharmacovigilance database derived from linkage of routinely collected health-care data, and managed within an appropriate legal and ethical framework, appears to be understood and acceptable to young people, and concerned adults. 1. Ekins-Daukes, S et al. Off label prescribing to children in primary care: a retrospective observational study. European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology 2004; 60: 349–353 2.