Time critical medication and Get It On Time campaign resources
Let's make hospitals safer for people with Parkinson's. Discover tools, resources and learning to support you to deliver time critical medication to people with Parkinson's.
- Inpatient care and medicines management
- Service improvement
- Tools
- All professions
Unlock the value of timely medication
We’ve launched a new tool that allows you to estimate the direct cost and impact of delayed time critical medication.
The Time critical medication dashboard lets you model scenarios in your Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS trust or health board in England, Scotland, and Wales.
You can use this resource to help you assess potential strategies to improve the administration of time critical medication in your service.
What is time critical Parkinson's medication?
Patients with Parkinson’s are at risk of significant harm if they don’t get their medication on time, every time. ‘On time’ means within 30 minutes of the patient’s prescribed time. Even short delays can worsen symptoms. These can include rigidity, pain and tremors, increasing the risk of falls, as well as causing stress, anxiety and swallowing issues, increasing the risk of aspiration.
Over half of people with Parkinson’s don’t get their medications on time, every time they're in hospital. This leads to worse patient outcomes, longer recovery times and increased costs to the NHS.
We're here to help healthcare professionals give great care and improve medicine administration standards. Here is a range of tools, resources and learning developed especially for you.
You can also contact us at [email protected] if you have any time critical medication questions or want to chat more about one of these resources.
Time critical medication resources
Guides for healthcare professionals
- Self administration of Parkinson's medication - a guide for hospital staff
- Electronic prescribing: how it can improve the delivery of time critical medications
- Time critical medications in Parkinson's: Nurse in charge and ward staff guide
- Screening swallowing problems in Parkinson's: nurse in charge and ward staff guide
- Hospital pharmacy time critical Parkinson's medication guide
- Ambulance service factsheet
Best practice case studies for health professionals
- Audit and awareness - how staff at Hexham General Hospital improved the delivery of time critical medication: best practice case study
- Benchmarking to improve the delivery of time critical medication at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust: best practice case study
- Self administration: a patient-centred approach to administering time critical Parkinson’s medication at University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
- Improving the delivery of time critical medications at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Resources for healthcare professionals
- Recorded webinar and Q&A: Driving improvement on time critical Parkinson's medication
- Time critical medication: hospital awareness kit
- SSPED: Swallow Screen for patients with Parkinson's in the Emergency Department
- Time critical medication patient stories: in their own words (short films)
- Caring for your patient with Parkinson’s
- Key information for hospital pharmacists
- Get It On Time (GIOT) and time critical medicine resources, including laminated clocks, stickers, and posters
How your hospital can make time critical medication improvements
- Time critical medication: 10 recommendations for your hospital
These recommendations will allow NHS staff to support timely, safe and appropriate medicine management for people with Parkinson's.
See the Time critical medication: 10 recommendations for your hospital
- NHS action on time critical medication: interactive map
Join the NHS organisations that have pledged to take action on time critical Parkinson's medication. Our interactive map page shows which organisations have pledged, and which are actively benchmarking against the 10 recommendations, and tells you how your organisation can get involved.
Visit the NHS action on time critical medication: interactive map
Time critical medication learning for professionals
This free online course teaches hospital staff about Parkinson's symptoms, treatments and the importance of medication timing.
This free, 15 minute video will help ward staff understand the key issues when caring for people with Parkinson's.
Aimed at all hospital staff, this online course teaches the importance of giving Parkinson’s medication on time, with a particular focus on staff who don’t administer medication.
All staff within hospitals should be made aware of time critical medication. Watch this 4 minute video created by the Professionals with Parkinson's group.
Time critical medication learning for pharmacists
This free 15-minute online, interactive short course about Parkinson's has been designed specifically for pharmacists.
These free modules will help any pharmacist, team member or student increase their knowledge and understanding of Parkinson's.
Time critical medication news and research
Read the Royal College of Emergency Medicine's (RCEM) findings from the first year of its Quality Improvement Programme (QIP). The Time Critical Medications QIP is supported by the Excellence Network.
Get up to date on the latest time critical medication activity in this blog from Patsy Cotton, Chair of the Parkinson's Time Critical Medication Advisory Group.
NHS England has committed to making sure time critical medication is delivered on time in hospitals as part of a 3 year programme. Parkinson's UK and the Excellence Network played a major role in making this happen.
- Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) Advisory Statement Time Critical Medication Self-Administration in Emergency Departments (March 2025). Read the advisory statement.
- Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) report: Medication not given: administration of time critical medication in the emergency department (December, 2024). Read the HSSIB report.
- Commissioner’s Guide to the NCEPOD Report - ‘Hard to Swallow?’. A review of the quality of dysphagia care provided to patients with Parkinson’s disease aged 16 years and over who were admitted to hospital when acutely unwell. The National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (NCEPOD). Go to the Commissioner's Guide to the NCEPOD report.
- Hard to Swallow? A review of the quality of dysphagia care provided to patients with Parkinson’s disease aged 16 years and over who were admitted to hospital when acutely unwell. A report published by the National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death (2021). Read the 'Hard to Swallow?' review.
- A comprehensive review of the diagnosis and treatment of Parkinson's disease dysphagia and aspiration. Patel et al 2020. Expert Review of Gastroenterology & Hepatology: Vol 14, No 6 (tandfonline.com). Read the comprehensive review.
- A New Simple Screening Tool - 4QT: Can It Identify Those with Swallowing Problems? A Pilot Study. Tsang, K et al 2020. PMC (nih.gov) Geriatrics. March 5(1):11. View the screening tool.
- NICE Parkinson's disease quality standard [QS164]. This quality standard covers the management of Parkinson's in adults. It describes high-quality care in priority areas for improvement. Read the quality standard.
Contact us
If you didn't find the time critical medication help you needed on this page, contact us at [email protected] and we will be happy to help.