14-17 April 2024 | Riga, Latvia

Course directors

• Brendan McClean, medical physicist, St Luke’s Radiation Oncology Network, Dublin, Ireland
• Petra Reijnders-Thijssen, manager, quality & patient safety, Maastro, Maastricht, The Netherlands

My name is Nigel Anderson and I am the chief radiation therapist at the Austin Health Radiation Oncology Network in Melbourne, Australia. I was very fortunate to participate in this course on risk management and patient safety in radiotherapy.

Risk management and patient safety are critical elements of a well-functioning multi-disciplinary team (MDT). This is particularly important in a radiation oncology MDT, in which radiation oncologists, radiation therapists, medical physicists and radiation oncology nurses, along with many other allied health disciplines, work collaboratively to deliver individualised, patient-centred care each day.

Each component of the course was of great importance and value to me, from the discussions of case studies, the importance of near-miss and root-cause analysis, cyber-attacks and the application of bowtie and preferential reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) methodologies to radiation incidents through the group practical sessions. Crucially, the importance of the MDT was stressed in the identification, documentation and review processes that are used for incidents and near-misses to ensure that a transparent, ‘no-blame’ culture is instilled within clinical departments. It was a fantastic opportunity to be able to share the learning and applications with a like-minded MDT from every corner of the globe. This, to me, was the most valuable ‘take home’ message from my time in Riga.

Upon returning to my team in Australia, it has been great to be able to apply the lessons learned and the foundations to my day-to-day practice. I am fortunate to work in a team that places safety as an uncompromised priority, yet it is valuable to have this underpinning knowledge in the constantly dynamic world of radiation oncology.

I can’t speak highly enough of the organisation of this course, from the pre-course communication to the day-to-day structure across the four days. This was my second ESTRO School experience, and in both cases, I particularly enjoyed the interactive nature that was fostered amongst the faculty and participants, as it provided opportunities for each delegate to meet their own learning objectives through the course.

Nigel Anderson

Chief radiation therapist

Austin Health Radiation Oncology Network

Melbourne, Australia

Nigel.anderson2@austin.org.au