A clinical audit of patient safety in an Irish radiotherapy department

Introduction: Radiotherapy is an ever-changing field with constant technological advances. It is for this reason that risk management strategies are regularly updated in order to remain optimal. Methodology: A retrospective audit of all reported incidents and near misses in the audited department between 1 November 2020 and 30 April 2021 was performed. The root cause of each radiotherapy error (RTE), safety barrier (SB) and the causative factor (CF) would be defined by the Public Health England (PHE) coding system. The data will then be analysed to determine if there are any frequently occurring errors and if there are any existing relationships between multiple error. Results: 670 patients were treated during the study period along with 35 reports generated. 77·1% (n = 27) were incidents, and 22·9% (n = 8) were near misses. 2·8% (n = 1) were reportable incidents. The ratio of RTEs to prescriptions was 0·052:1 (5·2%). 37% of RTEs were associated with image production. Slips and lapses were involved in 54·2%. Adherence to procedures/protocols was a factor in 48·5% (n = 17). Communication was a factor in 11·4% (n = 4). Discussion: The proportion of Level 1 incidents was higher in this department (2·8%) than in the PHE report (0·9%). Almost one-third, 31·4% (n = 11) of errors stemmed from one technical fault in image production. SB breaches were prevalent at the pre-treatment planning stage of the pathway. A relationship between slips/lapses and non-conformance to protocols was identified. Conclusion: The rate of reported radiotherapy incidents in the UK is lower when compared with this department; this could be improved with the implementation of the quality improvement plan outlined above.