The cost of a missed dose: how a new dashboard is transforming getting Parkinson’s medication on time

Summary

In this blog, Jean Almond and Sam Freeman Carney from Parkinson’s UK explain how their new time critical medication dashboard is:

• exposing the cost of missed and delayed medication
• encouraging renewed focus on improvements
• reducing avoidable harm.

This blog is part of a series on noncommunicable diseases, in support of World Patient Safety Day 2026.

Content

People with Parkinson’s rely on their medication, and need to take it on time. A delay of as little as 30 minutes can mean the difference between functioning well and being unable to move, walk, talk or swallow. Missing doses can lead to severe and irreversible harm to their health. People with Parkinson’s need to get their medication on time, every time.

It is deeply concerning, then, that less than half (42%) of people with Parkinson’s admitted to hospital last year received their medication on time, every time.

To help support the NHS in addressing this issue, Parkinson's UK worked with The Public Service Consultants (The PSC) to develop a ground-breaking new data dashboard, which shows the health economic benefits of improving time critical medication management for people with Parkinson's in hospitals.

What does the time critical medication dashboard do?

The time critical medication dashboard estimates the direct cost for hospitals and the impact on patient outcomes of time critical Parkinson’s medication delays and omissions. It does so at national, Integrated Care Board (ICB), NHS Trust and health board levels across England, Scotland, and Wales.

The model considers impacts on key measures, including length of stay, staff time, mortality, re-admissions, and associated costs.

The dashboard helps organisations evaluate different approaches to improve the timely administration of time critical medications — such as self-administration, staff training, or e-prescribing — by modelling the cost savings gained from implementing improvements.

Real-world success and traction

The dashboard has already:

• achieved over 3,500 views, primarily from healthcare professionals
• been shared through the NHS England’s three-year medicines safety improvement programme focused on time critical medication
• been promoted by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) through their time critical medication quality improvement programme in Emergency Departments.

Frontline teams are already utilising the tool to build local business cases for time critical medication quality improvement projects to improve patient safety. As one NHS Trust shared:

"When we found the Dashboard, it helped us to show in real terms, financial terms, the impact missed and delayed doses of [Parkinson’s] medications were going to have on our Trust. We were able to use this to gain traction and benchmark our starting position. We hope to see a significant improvement in the dashboard as we work on our [Quality Improvement Programme]."

The dashboard has supercharged our work at Parkinson's UK, opening doors with previously unengaged hospitals and shifting conversations from abstract risks to concrete, localised numbers.

Award winning

Our dashboard won the award for the ‘Most effective contribution to improving care for those with long term conditions’ at the HSJ Partnership Awards in March 2026. This is further recognition that our tool is helping address an avoidable, recurring patient safety issue and supporting the NHS in making the urgent improvements needed across the system.

How to find out more and take action

Alongside the dashboard, we provide a comprehensive suite of free resources to help health systems improve how they manage time critical Parkinson’s medication:

• Our 'Time critical medication: 10 recommendations for your hospital', developed by NHS health professionals living with Parkinson's, enable NHS organisations to support timely, safe and appropriate medicine management for people with Parkinson's.
• Our suite of resources and learning supports hospital teams to deliver time critical medication to people with Parkinson's.

No one with Parkinson’s should fear going into hospital because they can’t get the medication they rely on. Our dashboard is a critical new resource to show how hospitals can and need to go further. We urge health professionals, NHS Trusts, Health Boards and Integrated Care Boards to use this tool and transform their management of time critical Parkinson’s medication.

Share your insights

What is your experience of time critical medication? As a patient or a clinician? You can comment below (sign up first for free) or get in touch with the Patient Safety Learning hub team at [email protected].

About the Author

Sam Freeman Carney is the Health Policy and Improvement Lead, and Jean Almond is the Programme Manager for Time Critical Medications, both at Parkinson’s UK.