Improving the quality of radiation oncology: 10years' experience of QUATRO audits in the IAEA Europe Region.
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Authors
Izewska, JoannaCoffey, Mary
Scalliet, Pierre
Zubizarreta, Eduardo
Santos, Tania
Vouldis, Ioannis
Dunscombe, Peter
Affiliation
1 International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: j.izewska@iaea.org. 2 Discipline of Radiation Therapy, School of Medicine, Trinity Centre for Health Sciences, St. James' Hospital, Dublin, Ireland. 3 Department of Radiotherapy, Cliniques Universitaires Saint Luc, Université Catholique de Louvain, Brussels, Belgium. 4 International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna International Centre, Vienna, Austria. 5 University of Calgary, Canada.Issue Date
2018-01-01Keywords
Clinical audits in radiation oncologyQuality Assurance Team in Radiation Oncology
Quality audits in radiotherapy
Metadata
Show full item recordPublisher
ElsevierJournal
Radiotherapy and OncologyDOI
10.1016/j.radonc.2017.09.011PubMed ID
2898866028988660
Abstract
The IAEA has developed a methodology for comprehensive quality audits of radiotherapy practices called Quality Assurance Team for Radiation Oncology (QUATRO). This study explores the factors that impacted quality of care among QUATRO audited centres in the IAEA Europe Region. The 31 QUATRO reports collected over 10years include extensive data describing the quality of radiotherapy at the audited centres. A coding key was developed to aggregate and review these data in terms of recommendations for improvement and positive findings (commendations). Overall 759 recommendations and 600 commendations were given. Eight centres recognized as centres of competence differed from other centres mostly because they operated complete quality management systems and were adequately staffed. Other centres had excessive staff workloads and many gaps in the process of care. Insufficient equipment levels were prevalent. Patient centredness, communication, dosimetry, quality control and radiation protection were frequently commended by QUATRO. This analysis points to barriers to quality care such as insufficient staffing, education/training, equipment and lack of quality management. It highlights the correlation between the human resources availability and quality of care. It has also identified common action items for enhancing quality of radiotherapy programmes in the Region.Item Type
ArticleLanguage
enISSN
1879-0887ae974a485f413a2113503eed53cd6c53
10.1016/j.radonc.2017.09.011
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