Blog: Time critical medication takes a front seat

Hello! I last blogged on time critical medication (TCM) at the end of 2023, and 2024 has proved to be a bumper year for TCM action and improvements! We've seen a lot of hard work, innovation and dedication not only from colleagues on the advisory group, from Parkinson's UK and the Excellence Network, but also from the NHS at strategic and leadership levels, and of course, teams on the frontline.

Here's what's been going on.

NHS England Medicines Safety Improvement Programme

On the back of years of campaigning by the Parkinson's community and Parkinson's UK, culminating in a summit on TCM, NHS England has recently committed to making sure time critical medication is delivered on time in hospitals as part of an exciting 3 year Medicines Safety Improvement Programme.

Excitingly, the Programme is now ready to collect information about improvement projects in participating services.

Read more about the NHS England Medicines Safety Improvement Programme.

Find out how to contribute to the Medicines Safety Improvement Programme here.

Time critical medication improvement pledges

The NHS Professionals - Living and working with Parkinson's group launched a major time critical medication campaign on World Parkinson's Day 2022, supported by Parkinson's UK. The campaign asked NHS chief executives to consider the importance of people with Parkinson's getting their Parkinson's medication on time, every time, in hospital.

Since the campaign launched, over 100 NHS organisations have pledged and are working to improve the delivery of time critical Parkinson's medication, against the 10 time critical medication recommendations for hospitals.

It’s been really exciting to hear from the hospitals that have taken the next step and are benchmarking against the recommendations, this work will drive measurable improvement for people living with Parkinson's and their loved ones. In the coming months we'll be working with organisations and local media to publicise the work that is going on.

You can find out who those organisations are, more about their work and how you can join them, on a new interactive web page.

Visit the NHS action on time critical medication page here.

Best practice case studies

We've continued to curate best practice case studies from NHS organisations around the UK who are doing great things to improve the delivery of TCM, and here are 2 which have recently been published on the Excellence Network website.

• Benchmarking to improve the delivery of time critical medication at South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust
  The Trust is benchmarking against the 10 TCM recommendations for hospitals, and this case study details what advances have been made through audit, application of guidelines and staff education.

Read the South Tyneside and Sunderland NHS Foundation Trust best practice case study. 

• Self administration: a patient-centred approach to administering time critical Parkinson's medication at University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust
  The Leicester case study describes how developing a robust self administration policy, alongside staff training, has improved the patient experience and helped them to feel more empowered.

Read the University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust best practice case study. 

Finally, as the first year of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine quality improvement programme (QIP) on TCM draws to a close, we look forward to preliminary results from colleagues at the RCEM. It’s not too late to join the QIP for years 2 and 3.
Find out more about the programme and register here.

I hope you'll find these news and resources inspiring and helpful. Don't forget, there's a wealth of other TCM information and materials on the TCM resources page, all available to download for free, or order from the Parkinson's UK shop for free.

Until next time, thank you for your work to improve care for patients with Parkinson’s, and know that your efforts are being appreciated.

If you have any ideas or comments about how we can develop this work further, get in touch! Please email [email protected]. 

Patsy