Quality Assurance and Risk Management

Radiotherapy is of its nature a risk intensive process; therefore quality assurance and risk management are always at the forefront of the department's daily activities. Radiation Therapists play a vital role in the achievement of high quality and well-managed risk.

Every treatment machine is quality control checked each morning by Radiation Therapists before it is allowed to be used clinically.

In Vivo dosimetry (to measure patient dose) is widely used in the department.
Patients are also imaged regularly once treatment has begun to verify that their patient position remains correct throughout a course of treatment – this ensures the accuracy of the delivered treatment.

Regular joint analysis of incidents and near misses is undertaken by the Radiotherapy Services Manager, a Principle Physicist and a Radiation Oncologist in order to identify any trends and prevent the incident or near miss from recurring. This is in addition to the daily reviews of incidents and near misses as they arise.

In July 2006 a Radiation Therapist was given the role of helping to prepare the Radiotherapy department for the Irish Hospital’s Acute Care Accreditation Scheme. This resulted in the creation and implementation of a quality framework via the introduction of a Radiotherapy Department Policies and Procedures manual and a feedback loop which serves to inform, modify and improve the quality and standards of the radiotherapy service, and pave the way for internal audit and review.