Missed medication in A&E is putting patients at risk, doctors warn

Missed medication in A&E is putting patients at risk, doctors warn Elisabeth MahasePatients in hospital emergency departments are being put at risk because they are not getting time critical medication (TCM) for chronic conditions such as diabetes and Parkinson's disease on time, says a report by the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. 1 Analysis of data from 136 UK emergency departments on patients with diabetes or Parkinson's disease who take certain TCM such as insulin injections and levodopa found that two thirds did not receive their drugs around the expected time.This could potentially exacerbate symptoms or complications and lead to deterioration and increased mortality.Just over half (7197) of the 13 478 eligible patients were not identified within 30 minutes of their arrival in the emergency department, the analysis showed, and just 32% of 10 850 doses that patients should have had were administered within 30 minutes of their scheduled time.This proportion was 39% for levodopa and 22% for insulinIn light of the findings, the college has said that emergency departments need to make improvements to ensure patients taking TCM are identified early and their drugs are administered in a timely manner, including through facilitating self-administration.It said that emergency departments must have a "clear governance structure in place to determine who is responsible for the prescribing and administering of TCM from when the patient arrives to when they are admitted to the ward or discharged from the emergency department."The college's president elect, Ian Higginson, who leads its clinical quality work, said this issue had "risen to prominence because of the increasing number of our patients who are having to endure ridiculously long waits in our emergency departments: 12, 24, 48 hours and even longer."He added, "It is vital that ensuring patients receive TCM is identified as an issue associated with these waits.Missing doses of medication for illnesses such as Parkinson's or diabetes is not just inconvenient, it is dangerous; and missing multiple doses can have serious consequences."