A 12 question survey,
with sub-questions,
asked Canadian health professionals within the radiation safety community to report on the extent to which the 10 Bonn Call for Action priorities have been implemented in their jurisdictions.
Sub-priorities under each of the 10 Bonn Call for Action priorities were rated on a six-point ordinal scale,
according to agreement with a statement (the possible responses were “fully implemented,” “partially implemented,” “not implemented but intend to implement,” “not implemented and unlikely to implement,” “not applicable,” and “no answer”).
Also,
for each priority,
survey respondents were invited to provide feedback on four aspects: initiatives that promote compliance; policy and practice issues that impact the application of the priorities; actions to help harmonize radiation protection activities across Canada; and ideas to support the priorities in the future.
Open-ended qualitative responses were categorized by theme and summarized narratively.
Responses to the nominal variable questions were summarized descriptively.
The consent of all respondents was received in order to use their information in this report.
The survey was offered in both French and English,
and responses were gathered between June 4,
2017 and October 14,
2017.
Of the 33 participants across Canada who agreed to participate in this survey,
nine stated an awareness of the Bonn Call for Action,
14 were not aware and 10 provided no answer to the question (see Figure 1).
Many survey respondents reported initiatives in Canada intended to address radiation protection that align with Bonn Call for Action priorities.
For example,
for Action 3 (strengthening manufacturer’s role in contributing to the overall safety regime) eight-survey respondents reported fully implementing activities around the sub-action pertaining to reinforcing conformance to applicable standards of equipment regarding performance,
safety and dose parameters.
Similarly,
for Action 7 (improving prevention of medical radiation incidents and accidents) eight respondents reported that they had fully implemented activities related to the sub-action of implementing and supporting voluntary educational safety reporting systems for the purpose of learning from the return of experience of safety related events in medical uses of radiation.
Six survey respondents reported on whether the Bonn Call for Action was missing important priorities.
Three survey respondents indicated that the Bonn Call for Action is comprehensive and no additional actions are required,
two reported that they were not sure if the Bonn Call for Action addressed all radiation safety and protection needs,
and one remained very concerned that not all provinces have regulations regarding radiation dose limits for medical and dental use of X-rays,
and suggested that this should be recognized as a priority in Canada.
Overall,
among the six survey respondents who answered this question,
there was no consensus on whether the Bonn Call for Action was missing important priorities.
Throughout the survey responses,
common themes that emerged included the role of industry and government in supporting radiation protection practices,
the importance of education and training,
and the need for stakeholder engagement and collaboration amongst the medical imaging community (see Figure 2).
As well,
many survey respondents were supportive of federal oversight of radiation protection,
especially with regard to provincial adherence to Health Canada’s Safety Code 35.