Past audits
Find out what we discovered in our past UK Parkinson's Audits.
The 2019 Audit
The previous Audit took place in 2019. There was no Audit in 2021, to give services more time to adjust due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
See the 2019 Audit findings in the Audit reports and priority areas for improvement on this page.
Visual displays of 2019 Audit data by audit question, clinical speciality, and geographically by UK Parkinson's Excellence Network regions can be viewed in the UK Parkinson's Audit data dashboards.
2019 Audit reports
See an overview of key Audit findings
Read a summary of the most significant Audit results and key messages.
View further Audit results in numerical tables.
See which services took part in the 2019 Audit.
2019 Audit areas for improvement
Parkinson's is a complex and chronic condition. People with Parkinson's receive the best care in specialist Parkinson's or movement disorder clinics with access to a multidisciplinary team.
Statement 3 of the NICE Parkinson’s Disease quality standard states that adults with Parkinson's are referred to physiotherapy, occupational therapy or speech and language therapy if they have problems with balance, motor function, activities of daily living, communication, swallowing or saliva.
The Audit highlighted that the majority of services had access to these therapies, but that patients were not consistently being referred.
Non-motor symptoms recording in clinics continued to be poor.
- Blood pressure assessment was documented in just 67.0% of patients by neurology services.
- Constipation was raised as a concern and/or asked about in only 43% of PREM respondents.
Use of standardised guidance, assessments and outcome measures in occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech and language therapy should be the norm. For example, health professionals should use the:
- Occupational Therapy for People with Parkinson's: Best Practice Guide
- European Physiotherapy Guideline for Parkinson’s
- Dutch Guidelines for Speech-Language Therapy in Parkinson’s
All patients should be able to access the Lee Silverman Voice Treatment (LVST). At the time of the 2019 Audit, it was not available to 44% of audited patients.
Just 60.7% of patients felt they were given enough information at diagnosis.
Written information about Parkinson's was still not routinely available in 38% of outpatient clinics.
All clinics should offer information on:
- diagnosis
- new medication
- Parkinson's UK support and services
- Making a Power of Attorney.
When someone with Parkinson's doesn't get their medication at the time prescribed for them, their symptoms can become significantly worse.
Fewer than 50% of those admitted to hospital always got their Parkinson's medication at the right time. Of those who did not always receive their medication on time, 41% said this had a negative or significantly negative effect.
To enable good quality care to be delivered we need to ensure that the workforce is well informed and supported. The Audit highlighted that induction and support for all new therapists working with people with Parkinson’s should be a key improvement area going forwards.
Health professionals should be encouraged to access learning on Parkinson's throughout their careers. The Excellence Network Learning Hub provides access to a range of courses for all disciplines, and signposts to external learning opportunities.
UK Parkinson’s Audit data dashboards
The UK Parkinson’s Audit data dashboards provide a visual display of 2019 Audit data by audit question, clinical speciality, and geographically by UK Parkinson’s Excellence Network regions.
More past audits
The 2017 Audit revealed there had been improvements across many areas of practice, but that work was needed across the 5 areas for improvement shown below.
The 2017 Audit identified priorities for change and areas for improvement:
- specialised multidisciplinary working
- standardised practices
- anticipatory care planning
- communication and information sharing
- medicines management.
You can read more about the Audit findings in these reports:
The 2015 UK Parkinson's Audit gave the first proper overview of the state of Parkinson's services, showcasing good practice but highlighting many areas for improvement.
It was the first to include a Patient Reported Experience Measure (PREM), giving people with Parkinson's a stronger voice in rating the services they receive.
2015 UK Parkinson's Audit Summary Report (PDF, 4MB)
2015 UK Parkinson's Audit Patient and Carer Report (PDF, 3.07MB)
2015 UK Parkinson's Audit Reference Report (PDF, 6.08MB)
The 2015 Audit identified priorities for change and areas for improvement:
- access to a full multidisciplinary team
- timely provision of patient information
- addressing issues with inpatient management
- consistent uses of standardised assessments
- anticipatory care planning.
This audit reported on the care provided to 4,079 people with Parkinson's from elderly care, neurology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy services.
Occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy were added in 2011. Previously, the audit focused on neurology care and elderly care services only.
This audit evaluated care given to 6,106 patients with Parkinson's from 325 services (equivalent to 191 Trusts).
We audited 1,880 patients with a suspected Parkinson's diagnosis from 53 Trusts or equivalent organisations.
The first Parkinson's Audit, with 41 centres who provided elderly care or neurology services giving data on 1,256 patients.