Hospital drug policies could ‘put Parkinson’s patients at risk’

Patients with Parkinson’s disease are being put at risk when they have spells in hospital due to a lack of timely medication, according to a new report.

Some 58% of people with Parkinson’s disease who were admitted to hospital in England last year said that they did not receive their medication on time during their stay.

Parkinson’s UK said that medication for people with the condition is “time critical” and a delay of 30 minutes can mean the difference between functioning well and being unable to move, walk, talk or swallow.

The charity also conducted freedom of information requests on English hospitals and found that one in four (26%) NHS trusts do not have policies that allow people with Parkinson’s to take their own medication in hospitals.

Only half (52%) require staff responsible for prescribing and administering medication to have training on time critical medication, the charity found.

Parkinson’s UK has called for a number of measures to be put in place to make sure patients in hospital can get access to medications when needed including: ensuring there are medication self-administration policies for patients where it is safe to do so; more training for staff and better use of e-prescribing to keep on track of medication timings.

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Source: The Independent, 19 September 2023