This site is intended for UK healthcare professionals
Medscape UK Univadis Logo
Medscape UK Univadis Logo
News

Radiotherapy errors: 666 per month in England

New figures from Public Health England (PHE) show there were 15,979 radiotherapy errors (RTEs) reported through the voluntary reporting scheme between December 2015 and November 2017, equating to an average of 666 per month.

Of the RTE reports, 65.8 per cent were categorised as ‘near miss’ or ‘other non-conformances’ with no impact on patient outcome. In total, 31.8 per cent of the RTEs were not clinically significant.

When categorised according to classification, process code or process subcode, including failed and effective safety barriers and causative factors, RTEs were spread across all 21 categories of process codes.

Both ‘booking process’ and ‘treatment data entry process’ had increased since the previous two-year period. Treatment unit process codes were the most frequently reported RTE (41.2%). Across the two-year period there was a decrease in ‘pre-treatment planning process’ activity from 17.3 per cent to 15.4 per cent.

PHE says: “It is imperative that RTE trends continue to be reported, analysed and monitored on a cyclical basis, to inform ongoing safe and effective RT practice. This is especially pertinent as new techniques and technologies are implemented and as new clinical RT providers are established.”


References


YOU MAY ALSO LIKE