Time-critical Parkinson’s medication: the human cost of delays and mistakes

Summary

Parkinson’s is the fastest growing neurological condition in the world. Currently there is no cure for Parkinson’s, but medication plays a vital role in managing symptoms and preventing deterioration.

In this blog, Joanne explains how delays to her mother’s time-critical medication in hospital led to her condition deteriorating. 

Content

I want to share my story about my mother’s treatment after she was admitted to hospital with a sore knee. She lived independently and walked with one stick prior to her admission. Her Parkinson’s was well managed with her medication.

Right at the beginning of my mother’s inpatient stay she received the wrong amount of her time critical medication and her usual timings were not honoured, despite information given to medical staff on admission.

My mother lost all her function which caused her to fall, she couldn’t sit up properly and was lying to the side and hunched over. She managed to feed herself a few times in this lying to the side/hunched over position. This in turn meant she aspirated and then took pneumonia. She also has heart failure, and the amount of antibiotics needed to shift the pneumonia then caused fluid overload which made her heart failure worse. 

We were not given much hope for her. She lost 4 stone of weight and was hospitalised for a total of 96 days.

At times, she could not even coordinate her hand to mouth to eat. I was constantly having to chase the medical staff for her medication to be given at the correct times. I was made to feel like a pest. They even ran out at one stage, and the dosage was over 2 hours late. 

My mother was never incontinent on admission to hospital but that also soon changed. She deconditioned, was frail and then had trouble with orthostatic hypotension which restricted her rehab. She had several urinary tract infections which in turn caused delirium which was very upsetting. 

It is of my opinion that the medication delays caused the problems.

I complained about the care and got her moved to a local hospital. She came on leaps and bounds, and they were bang on time constantly with her meds. No issues at all. Two physiotherapists had her up and walking. She was finally discharged from hospital on day 96 with a Zimmer frame with wheels and the assistance of two people. The physiotherapy team felt confident she wasn’t at her baseline and could improve to having the Zimmer and assistance of one. Things felt more positive.

She then went to a rehab care centre where the physiotherapy input was minimal. The physiotherapist there reassessed her and told me that she would never walk again as it was too unsafe. Medical advice was to find a permanent nursing home for her.

I then contacted a private neuro physiotherapist who specialises in Parkinson’s and he has hope for her and has had her up and walking again.

I’m so very upset and traumatised by what has happened to my mother. It’s a very sad situation that we are currently faced with and I have no doubt that it all has been caused by an incorrect dosage and delays to the set timings of her Parkinson’s medication during her hospital admission. 

I do not feel the medical staff understood the importance of her time critical medication. There needs to be more awareness throughout health trusts and training for any staff involved in dispensing these medications. Guidelines or standards should be implemented and in place for time critical medication. It is not acceptable to follow general medication guidelines for time critical Parkinson’s medication.

Share your story

Have you or someone you care for been affected by any of the issues raised in Joanne's blog?

Or perhaps you are a healthcare professional putting measures in in place to reduce errors around time-critical medication? You can comment below (sign up for free first) or email us at [email protected] to share your insights.

Related reading

• Medication delays: A huge risk for inpatients with Parkinson’s
• Keeping patients with Parkinson’s safe in hospital: 4 key actions for staff 
• Preparing to go into hospital – tips for people with Parkinson's and their carers
• Lightning Learning: Time Critical Medications
• ‘Every minute counts’: taking a national approach to time-critical medicines