'Get it on time' campaign background

We launched our 'Get it on time' campaign in April 2006 to make sure that people with Parkinson's in hospitals get their medication on time - every time.

Why is this so important?

When patients don't get their medication on time their Parkinson's symptoms become uncontrolled and they can become very ill.

The main treatment for Parkinson's is medication and there are specific drugs which work by replacing or mimicking the actions of dopamine, the chemical that is depleted in the brain. If a person with Parkinson's is unable to take their prescribed medication at the right time, the balance of chemicals in their brains can be severely disrupted – leading to the symptoms of the condition becoming uncontrolled.

Because people with Parkinson's and their families are so aware of the importance of taking medication on time, their drug regime is easily managed when they are at home or at work. However, if they are admitted to hospital, it can be difficult to maintain the timing of their drugs.

The importance of medicines' management has been a major worry for people with Parkinson's for many years and the 'Get it on time' campaign has given a UK-wide voice to their concerns.

Understanding the problems: nurses' survey

Research carried out amongst Parkinson's Disease Nurse Specialists (PDNSs) confirmed that serious problems existed around medicines' management in hospitals in the UK. Findings from the study of 81 nurses (40% of all PDNSs) showed that:

• not a single nurse believed that patients with Parkinson's were guaranteed to receive their medication on time
  
  
• 7 out of 10 nurses said that people with Parkinson's could not rely on getting their medication on time
  
  
• 9 out of 10 nurses felt that patients with Parkinson's can experience clinical problems or an extended hospital stay as a result of missed or late administration of their medication

Understanding the problems: the carer's story

One carer, whose husband was admitted to hospital with deep-vein thrombosis in 2001, described the nurses response to his request to self-medicate.

"Each fresh ward sister bustled suspiciously up to my husband demanding to know why he was medicating himself, what drugs he was taking and when. We must have given them the list half a dozen times ... their attitude was certainly not accommodating. It was only towards the end of his 8-day stay, that they seemed to accept that he was managing his own treatment of Parkinson's.

"People who may have other health problems as well as Parkinson's, whose family are unable to be around as much as I was, or are nervous about speaking their mind, may well be intimidated into following the hospital's regime, with a consequently bad effect on their Parkinson's and its effective treatment."

Understanding the problems: Yorkshire couple take PCT to task

Grace and George Spencer of Barnsley are big supporters of the 'Get it on time' campaign and have been working hard to improve things in their local hospital. Grace was admitted to hospital on one occasion for a chest infection and, on the first day, was receiving her medication up to an hour late each time. This meant that her Parkinson's symptoms - usually controlled by the medication - got worse, so her body started to become rigid and it became difficult for her to control her movements. Subsequently, she became stressed and panicky, making her recovery much more difficult.

On Grace's discharge from hospital, George took the matter up with the board of the Primary Care Trust. It resulted in a partnership being struck between Boots the chemist and the hospital, to provide bum bags to patients with Parkinson's, to store their medication and administer it themselves. Despite this, there is variation in hospitals across the region and within hospitals on the procedures in place to administer Parkinson's medication. Many people are still struggling to get it on time.

It is hoped that with the new 'Get it on time' washbag, more people with Parkinson's will be well prepared for a hospital stay and the advice within it will help them deal with problems in hospital, as and when they arise.

Read how the 'Get it on time' campaign has successfully improved hospital experiences around the UK