A&E patients are in a potentially life-threatening situation as they missed prescription drug doses, according to a new report.
The Royal College of Emergency Medicine (RCEM) has discovered that A&E people are not taking their medications on time and lacking the doses needed to manage their illness.
Diabetes, Parkinson’s drugs, epileptic medications, tablets to prevent blood clots are all time important drugs (TCM).
If these medications are delayed or missed, the patient can get worse and at a higher risk of complications or death.
Patients are advised not to forget to bring their medications to A&E and take them, but it is also the responsibility of NHS staff to check this.
Despite the perceived risk of harm, TCM delivery is inconsistent across the emergency department. Long wait times often contribute to this.
This study focused on oral levodopa in Parkinson’s disease and insulin in diabetes, as it is common in A&E patients and requires administering on time.
The researchers used data from 136 emergency departments in the UK and submitted data from over 13,000 people from A&E who had been using insulin injections or levodopa.
The study, which was part of the university’s clinical quality improvement program (QIP), aimed at improving care for A&E patients, found that more than half of these patients were not identified as being in TCM within 30 minutes of their arrival in the emergency department.
Furthermore, 68% of the doses were not administered within 30 minutes of the expected time.
“The findings contained in this report should serve as a catalyst for the behavior of both patients, both emergency medical staff and patients who rely on time for critical medication,” said Dr. Johnny Acheson, who led the study by Dr. Johnny Acheson, an emergency medical consultant at Leicester who has Parkinson’s disease.
He emphasized that paramedics and emergency medical staff should ask patients what medications they would take.
Additionally, diabetic patients who have received Parkinson’s disease and insulin treatment should inform staff if they visit A&E and take their medication.
“But the NHS has to think about how to identify people taking these types of medication and how they can receive their dosage on time, every time they are in the emergency department,” he added. “These drugs are important to the quality of life of these patients and we have a duty of care to ensure that they receive them when they need them.”
Recommendations created by the QIP team include the need to identify critical medication patients early when attending A&E to prevent missed doses.
He added that the system needs to be in place to ensure that the medicine is given on time.
Dr. Ian Higginson, president-elect at RCEM, said this was a question of “we shouldn’t need to fix it” and suggested that long waits are partially responsible.
“It’s become more noticeable as the number of patients in the emergency department has to endure incredibly long waits – 12, 24, 48 hours, even longer,” he added.
He emphasized that shortages of drug dosages for Parkinson’s disease and diabetes are not only “inconvenient”, but also “dangerous” and can have “severe consequences.”
Parkinson’s UK praised the RCEM work, while Diabetic UK said delays or missed insulin doses could be a potentially life-threatening emergency.
An NHS spokesperson said: “We welcome this report, look closely at the findings and ensure that patients who need time don’t lose when they engage in A&E, and that they are receiving the medication or support they need for self-management, just like they do at home.
“As the report clarifies, we welcome seeing improvements thanks to the hard work of frontline staff, but more generally, we know that A&E wait times are too long.
