Waiting for radiotherapy
 An article published in the British Medical Journal regarding radiotherapy waiting times sparked an unusual amount of coverage from the national media.
The Observer was the first to highlight the issues, followed by the BBC and the Daily Telegraph. The latter particularly picked-up on the shortage of therapy radiographers.
Richard Evans, the Society’s Chief Executive Officer was asked to confirm and comment on the issues raised. He said, “We generally agree with the main points of the article. Many radiotherapy radiographers in the UK will recognise the frustration felt by dedicated health care staff who, despite heroic efforts, cannot provide the quality of care that they know is best for their patients.
“Significant improvements have been made in recent years and there is still some work to be done to see the best and most efficient practices implemented everywhere. However, we agree with the authors that the fundamental need to see a significant increase in radiotherapy capacity remains,” he continued. \
“The BMJ article does not mention the work of the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group (NRAG) that is nearing the completion of its work to examine this very problem. The members of this group are as committed to seeing an improvement in patient services as the authors of the BMJ article. In our view, the political reaction to the outcome report from the NRAG will be a key test of the government's true commitment to a world class cancer service for the UK. As the authors of the BMJ piece indicate, a new type of response is required. This must take account of all of the issues and seek to address the hard choices.
“Most importantly, we believe that the decisions about the future must be informed by the knowledge and expertise of cancer care professionals.”
Click to download a pdf of the article published in BMJ.
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