Purpose
Radiation oncology departments have traditionally focused on reactive risk management tools such as incident reporting,
but are now starting to appreciate the benefits of prospective risk management to maximize the safety and quality of radiation oncology services [1].
The potential problems of not using a prospective approach include
The premature clinical release of a new technology or technique,
allowing it to be used in potentially unsafe circumstances due to poor documentation,
poor patient selection,
a lack of staff training or insufficient infrastructure to support its...
Methods and materials
The RABBIT system
RABBITs are Microsoft Word templates which guide the user through the following steps (Figure 1):
A description of the project scope,
restrictions,
precautions,
and how well the project achieves compliance with legal requirements,
local policies and best practice guidelines;
A review of how well prepared the local department is to start using the new technology or technique,
for example whether there are sufficient human and financial resources,
staff expertise and supporting infrastructure
An evaluation of risks and benefits associated with the use...
Results
The average SPA question score improved from 3.9 to 4.4 out of 5.0 (Table 1 and Figure 2),
confirming that the RABBIT system is perceived to have improved the implementation of new technology and techniques [5].
The final average score isbetter than the SPA world average of 3.5 (as of October 2017).
The improvement islikely to be mainly due to the formal identification and management of risks.
The introduction of a higher level of staff training prior to clinical release is also a significant improvement...
Conclusion
The STGCCC staff members’ feedback showed that they believed the use of RABBITs improved all the surveyed performance measures,
including team work,
training,
commissioning and management of the risks associated with implementing new technology and techniques. The RABBIT system is an effective and efficient way for a radiation oncology MDT to manage and document a wide range of quality improvement projects involving new technologies and techniques.
References
Huq M,
Fraass B,
Dunscombe P et al.
TG 100: Application of risk analysis methods to radiation therapy quality management.
Medical Physics 2016; 43: 4209 – 4262
Routsis,
D.,
A risky business: implementing emerging technologies into radiotherapy.
Imaging and Oncology 2008; 12
AAPM Safety Profile Assessment tool.
http://spa.aapm.org/Default.aspx.
2017
Dunscombe P,
Brown D,
Donaldson H et al.
Safety Profile Assessment: An Online Tool to Gauge Safety-Critical Performance in Radiation Oncology.
Practical Radiation Oncology 2015; 5: 127-134
Ralston A and Yuen J.
Use of the AAPM...