Blog: Taking action on time critical medication

Patsy Cotton, Chair of the Parkinson's UK Time critical medication steering group, reflects on the most recent developments in our action packed programme.
 

As I write this Time critical medication programme update, World Parkinson's Day is in full swing. It's been really heartening to see the level of activity that colleagues have achieved this week to raise awareness of the condition. As part of that, the importance of getting Parkinson's medication on time has been a prominent message.

This activity hasn't been limited to World Parkinson's Day. Over 30% of NHS organisations who took our pledge to improve delivery of time critical Parkinson's medication are now taking action on time critical medication.

Our interactive pledge map shows which organisations have pledged, and which are actively benchmarking against the 10 recommendations on time critical medication. You can find out how your organisation can get involved on that webpage too.

View the NHS action on time critical medication: interactive map.

2025 is also a UK Parkinson's Audit year - and the first Audit to include inpatient pharmacy services. Over 80 pharmacy services have registered to take part and their audit questions will focus on the delivery of time critical Parkinson's medication in their departments.

There have been plenty of other developments in the first quarter of 2025. Join me as I take you through them.

New Excellence Network resources

A number of new resources have been added to the time critical medication resource page.

Patient stories: Gareth and Karen - in their own words

Gareth and Karen share very contrasting experiences of being able to control their own Parkinson's medication in hospital. Watch their short films; the latest in our "In their own words" series.

See Gareth's and Karen's stories here.

Best practice case study

Audit and awareness: how staff at Hexham General Hospital improved the delivery of time critical medication

A case study detailing how a staff nurse's dissertation led to an increase in Parkinson's medication delivered on time on a ward at Hexham General Hospital.

Read the case study.

Royal College of Nursing (RCN) endorsement

We're pleased to announce that the time critical medication in Parkinson's: guide for nurse in charge or ward staff guide has recently received endorsement from the RCN. We thank the RCN for recognising the importance of the topic.

Explore the guide here.

Webinar: Driving improvement on time critical Parkinson's medication

On 26 February, Dr Jonny Acheson, Emergency Medicine Consultant and Excellence Network Clinical Leadership Team Director of Engagement, chaired our first webinar. The fully subscribed event covered an introduction to practical benchmarking against the 10 recommendations, and allowed participants to join virtual workshops on e-prescribing, self administration and identifying people on time critical medication.

Watch the webinar recording

UK-wide and Welsh ambulance service fact sheets

The ambulance service fact sheet developed in partnership with the Scottish Ambulance Service in 2023 has been joined by a fact sheet aimed at ambulance services right across the UK, as well as a Welsh bilingual version.

Go to the ambulance service fact sheets.

Policy developments

Unlock the value of timely medication: Parkinson's UK time critical medication dashboard

To help the NHS to address the time critical medication issue, Parkinson's UK commissioned the development of a data dashboard to estimate the benefits of improving time critical medication management for people with Parkinson's in hospitals in England, Scotland and Wales. The dashboard estimates the direct cost for hospitals and impact of patient outcomes of delayed or missed medication doses.

Explore the dashboard.

Working with partner organisations

Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Quality improvement project report

On April 7, the RCEM released a year 1 interim report on their 3 year time critical medications QIP, following an advisory statement on self-administration. Dr Jonny Acheson has led the QIP, which has been supported by Parkinson's UK.

Go straight to the RCEM QIP report and advisory statement on self administration.
Read more about the RCEM QIP.

Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) consultation report

Medication not given: administration of time critical medication in the emergency department

Alongside Parkinson's UK's Policy and Campaigns team, we submitted a response which helped shape this investigation report on a serious patient safety event, which missed and delayed doses of Parkinson's medication contributed to.

Read the HSSIB report and its recommendations. 

We're in the process of evaluating the impact our programme has had so far. Next time you hear from me, I hope to bring you some information on how the NHS has been using our resources in practice, and the difference it's made to the patient experience.

Patsy

Time for you to take action on time critical medication?

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