Reducing harm from radiotherapy

doi:10.1136/bmj.39112.454387.BE

BMJ 2007;334:272 (10 February), doi:10.1136/bmj.39112.454387.BE

Editorials

Reducing harm from radiotherapy

Healthcare systems should follow the lead developed in otherhigh risk industries

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Like most treatments, radiotherapy has the powerto heal but also to harm.¹ Worldwide, around 10 million peopleare newly diagnosed with cancer each year and 40-50% will receiveradiotherapy.² In the United Kingdom, around 200 linear acceleratorsdeliver 100 000 courses of radiotherapy in 1.5 million fractionsannually; this results in roughly 4.25 million doses of radiationfor cancer treatment each year (data from the Health ProtectionAgency (www.hpa.org.uk/) and the National Cancer Services AnalysisTeam (www.canceruk.net/)).

Because of the hazardous nature of radiation,an extensive framework of protocols, standards, and legislationis in place to protect patients and healthcare workers.³ ⁴ ⁵ ⁶ TheWorld Health Organization World Alliance for Patient Safetyhas this year taken up the challenge of making radiotherapysafer (www.who.int/patientsafety/en). It will deal with twokey questions. Firstly, can standardised safety interventionsbe developed that reliably and consistently reduce the risk. . . [Full text of this article]

Liam Donaldson, chief medical officer for England

¹ Department of Health, London SW1A 2NS

liam.donaldson@dh.gsi.gov.uk

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