Impact of Covid19 on Inpatient Parkinson's liaison service

Aim

• To assess the impact of Covid 19 on the inpatient liaison service during the second lockdown
• To determine if patients were identified for specialist input
• If patients were identified for specialist input, to determine how referrals were made and if they were timely

Headlines

• Some patients who could have benefited from specialised input were not identified
• For those who were identified, there was considerable variation in how they were referred
• There was considerable variation in the time it took to make referrals

Key findings

A review of the electronic patient records of people with PD who were admitted to the acute medical floor or the elderly medicine wards between 15 October 2020 and 4 December 2020 found:

• In 18 of the 26 admissions, referral to the PD team was warranted or requested
• The referral was made in nine cases
• Time to referral ranged from zero to four days
• The majority of referrals were made to the PD specialist nurse over the phone
• PD specialist input was useful in 14 of the 18 cases identified for referral

Recommendations

• Place posters on acute floor and medical wards to help identify people with PD who may need specialist input
• Develop criteria to prompt appropriate referral of PD patients upon admission
• Agree on a standard method of referral, ideally EPR
• Train junior staff on the referral process