Parkinson’s UK calls on government to mark World Patient Safety Day

The report outlines ways the government can help patients with Parkinson’s disease

Parkinson’s UK has called on the government to take action to help people with Parkinson’s disease (PD) get their medication on time in hospital, as part of its relaunched ‘Get It On Time’ campaign to mark World Patient Safety Day on 17 September.

The charity, alongside Diabetes UK, Epilepsy Action, National Aids, Rethink Mental Illness and the Richmond Group, supported by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, outlined in a joint statement how the government can take action to help patients with PD.

PD is a progressive neurological condition which affects an estimated 128,000 people in England.

People living with PD can experience severe harm to their health, such as trauma, as a result of not receiving their medication on time while in hospital.

The issue also affects patients living with diabetes, epilepsy and HIV, as well as those with mental health issues.

In 2022, only 42% of people with PD admitted to hospital in England received their medication on time.

Parkinson’s UK’s new report, Every Minute Counts, revealed that only 52% of NHS trusts require staff responsible for prescribing and administering medication to have training on time critical medication.

Additionally, only 58% of NHS trusts in England use an e-prescribing system to report on whether people with PD receive their medication on time.

The organisations called on the government to offer self-administration of medication policies in every hospital, boost the rollout of e-prescribing in hospitals to monitor and alert staff when medication is due, and train hospital ward staff responsible for prescribing and administering medication to assure that time critical medications are received on time.

Juliet Tizzard, director of external relations at Parkinson’s UK, said: “We believe that no one should fear going into hospital, and we’re here to work with the NHS to make sure people who depend on time critical medication see hospital as a safe place to be. It is time to act now.”