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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
- Explore our interactive NHS action on time critical medication map.
- Visit our dedicated time critical medication resource page.
Contact Jean Almond, our Time critical medication Programme Lead at [email protected].
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