Health

Parkinson’s patients experience significant delays before being seen at clinics, audit finds

Evidence found of insufficient communication and information-sharing, especially at time of diagnosis, with national lack of nursing specialists

The first national audit of Parkinson’s disease care in Ireland was published on Thursday.
The first national audit of Parkinson’s disease care in Ireland was published on Thursday.
Colin Gleeson
Thu Apr 11 2024 - 00:01

Sufferers of Parkinson’s disease experience significant delays between patient referral and their first clinic visit, with less than a third seen within six months, an audit has found.

The first national audit of Parkinson’s disease care in Ireland was published on Thursday. It included data from 11 clinics, with patient cases assessed to examine the type of care provided to those suffering from the condition.

The audit was led by consultant geriatrician Prof Suzanne Timmons at the Centre for Gerontology and Rehabilitation in University College Cork.

The audit found evidence of insufficient communication and information-sharing, especially at the time of diagnosis. It also found that nursing specialists are lacking nationwide, with most located in Dublin.

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Furthermore, multidisciplinary access is poor, especially in relation to dietetics and social work. There was evidence of unmet psychological needs, with psychology input mainly confined to a small number of cases attending neurology-led clinics.

The audit also found there is significant variability across services for many assessments, as well as poor attention to the management of bone health.

Ms Timmons said it is “clear” that Parkinson’s disease services are stretched. “Without a sufficient number of nurse specialist posts and access to a range of trained health and social care professionals, it simply won’t be feasible to improve the non-medical management of care,” she added.

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson

Colin Gleeson is an Irish Times reporter