Abstract Introduction Royal College of Emergency Medicine and NHS England define reduction of delays and omissions of critical medication as important strategic objectives. Data from Parkinson’s UK indicate that only 37% of doses of PD medication are delivered on time during hospital stays. The aim of this QI project was to evaluate data from previous 2.5 years and evaluate effectiveness of our improvement work. Method Utilising hospital electronic reporting system, information was obtained on time from Emergency Department (ED) Triage document completion to time that PD medication was prescribed. Data on administration within 30mins was analysed for 3 months (July + Nov 2023 and June 2024). Questionnaires were sent to nurses, doctors and patients to obtain their perspectives. Electronic system was updated to include ‘is the patient on time critical medication (TCM)’ question on ED Triage document and analysis of its effect was completed. Results For co-beneldopa, the average time from triage to first prescription decreased from 320mins in 2023, to 280mins in 2024 rising slightly to 301mins for the first 5 months of 2025. For co-careldopa those figures were 277mins/359mins/218mins for the 3 years. Delays to administering of medication were more prominent in November 23 (range 49–52% given within 30 minutes of scheduled time) vs July 23 (range 60–69%) and June 24 (range 66–71%). Doctors reported low confidence in prescribing PD medication, while nurses outlined various barriers to timely administration. Two thirds of patients were satisfied with PD meds in hospital. Following introduction of TCM question in Triage document, time from ED triage to first prescription has gone down to 150mins for co-careldopa and 259mins for co-beneldopa. Conclusion(s) Multiple interventions were introduced through the 2.5 years to improve performance. We need to continue this work to ensure that patients with PD get their medication on time.
Collis et al. (Sun,) studied this question.
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