Safer radiotherapy newsletter and good practice guide published

PHE data

Published: 17 February 2020 Managers

The latest quarterly Safer Radiotherapy newsletter is out, as well as a new Good practice in radiotherapy error and near miss reporting guide.

Radiotherapy error (RTE) data analysis from August to November 2019 is showcased in the newsletter, with 98.5% classified as minor radiation incidents, near misses or other non-conformances.

The newsletter includes a guest editorial piece, which is written by Tony Murphy, patient safety representative, asking the question ‘Is radiotherapy safety taken as read?’

The good practice guide explores on-set imaging associated RTE, offering examples, advice and a process code breakdown.

“It is imperative that radiotherapy providers continue to report classified and coded RTE monthly to ensure timeliness of learning,” the document states.

“Consistency checking highlights that the quality of the RTE reports continues to be high. Providers should consider all pathway coding when coding on-set imaging associated RTE.”

Good practice in radiotherapy error and near miss reporting.

Safer Radiotherapy, January 2020.