Sharing our concerns about access to Parkinson’s care in parliament

In this roundtable discussion, we raised concerns from our community about challenges accessing Parkinson’s health and care professionals.

Parkinson’s has over 40 symptoms, requiring expert care and treatment from different health professionals. Unfortunately, shortages of health professionals across the board mean people with Parkinson’s face challenges accessing vital aspects of the care they need.

The Health and Social Care Select Committee (a cross-party group of MPs who scrutinise UK government decisions and plans) set up an expert panel of non-political advisers to rate the government’s performance on health and social care. The expert panel asked Parkinson's UK to give evidence on how health and social care workforce issues in England impact people with Parkinson’s.

The evidence we gave included:

• The UK came 44th out of 45 European countries for the number of neurologists per head of the population (referenced in the Neurology Workforce Survey on the Association of British Neurologists website (PDF, 335KB).
• 48% of consultant geriatricians plan to retire in the next 10 years (referenced on the Royal College of Physicians website).
• Only 66% of respondents living with Parkinson's had accessed a physiotherapist, 54% an occupational therapist and 48% a physiotherapist (figures from the UK Parkinson’s Audit). 

Improvements in training needed

We also highlighted the lack of training for general health and social care professionals, and the devastating consequences this can have on the care of people with the condition. Especially as most people treated in hospital will receive care from professionals who haven’t specialised in the condition and don’t understand it well.  

We shared concerns from people with the condition and carers about not getting Parkinson’s medication on time in hospitals with our Get It On Time campaign.

And our Nobody really knows us report highlighted that social care workers don't understand the needs of people with Parkinson’s-related dementia. Read more about our Nobody really knows us report.

Finally, we called for better workforce planning by the government to ensure the Parkinson’s community can access the health and care professionals they need to live well with their condition. As well as ensuring professionals have the relevant training to understand Parkinson’s.

Share your experience to improve services

If you have had difficulty accessing the care you need or are aware of a shortage of Parkinson’s health professionals in your area, please share your story with us.