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 on time to people with Parkinson's.
- Inpatient care and medicines management
- Service improvement
- Tools
- All professions
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:
Time critical medication resources
Guides for healthcare professionals
- 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
Resources for healthcare professionals
- Get It On Time laminated clock posters
- Get It On Time campaign posters
- Get It On Time stickers
- Caring for your patient with Parkinson’s
- Key information for hospital pharmacists
Resources for your patients
Download 10 recommendations for your hospital
A group of NHS professionals who live with Parkinson’s have developed a set of 10 recommendations for hospitals in collaboration with the Excellence Network. These recommendations will enable NHS staff to support timely, safe and appropriate medicine management for people with Parkinson's.
- 10 recommendations document - England (PDF, 88KB)
- 10 recommendations document - Scotland (PDF, 64KB)
- 10 recommendations document - Wales (PDF, 64KB)
- 10 recommendations document - Northern Ireland (PDF, 120KB)
- Hospital benchmarking template (Word document, 31KB)
Watch the accompanying video produced by the professionals, which brings the recommendations to life.
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, online presentation 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
The NHS Ayrshire and Arran team have won the top Excellence Network Award for their work to improve timely administration of Parkinson's medication in hospital.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has launched a new time critical medication Quality Improvement Programme.
The NHS Professionals - Living and working with Parkinson's group, in collaboration with the Parkinson's Excellence Network, have scooped the HSJ Patient Involvement in Safety Award for our Get It On Time campaign.
Researchers are looking for people with Parkinson’s who are taking medication for their Parkinson’s, and who have recently attended hospital, or who have a hospital visit planned.
- Rapid Response Report NPSA/2010/RRR009: Reducing harm from omitted and delayed medicines in hospital. National Patient Safety Agency (2010). Read the NPSA 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.
Related resources
- Visit the Get It On Time campaign and read the report
- Watch the Royal College of Physicians (RCP) safety short on their website
- Read the latest time critical medication highlights in our blog
- Order resources for professionals
- Medicines optimisation consensus statement
- 'Nil by mouth' medication dose calculators and guidelines