Clinical Prioritisation for Curative Radiotherapy: A Local Waiting List Initiative Export

@article{citeulike:5938560, abstract = {Aims: Waiting time for radiotherapy is a major problem in radiation oncology practice. The aim of this paper is to present the experience of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in trialling a number of strategies to reduce patient waiting times. Materials and methods : All patients starting megavoltage radiotherapy with curative intent in three separate 1-week blocks had their waiting times recorded. The cohorts were each 8 weeks apart and were before (September), during (November) and after (January) the introduction of a priority points system. Results: Median waiting time was 35 days in September, 42 days in November and 31 days in January. The number of extremely long waits (>90 days) decreased to 1 by January. Significantly more patients were pre-booked for treatment in January (27/51) compared with September (17/65; P =0.003) and November (12/65; P <0.001). Pre-booked patients had shorter waiting times compared with patients who was not pre-booked ( P <0.0001). Difficulties at one particular treating location contributed to the longer median waiting times in November. Although there had no significant difference in waiting time in non-breast unit patients between the three cohorts, there was a decrease in waiting times in breast unit patients, especially between November and January ( P =0.0008). There was no significant increase in delay to starting treatment in other treating units, resulting in more equitable access across all units. Conclusions: A combination of encouraging pre-booking and the introduction of a priority points system has led to a decrease in waiting times, especially among breast unit patients.}, author = {Martin, J.}, citeulike-article-id = {5938560}, citeulike-linkout-0 = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2003.12.008}, citeulike-linkout-1 = {http://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0936-6555(04)00107-4}, doi = {10.1016/j.clon.2003.12.008}, issn = {09366555}, journal = {Clinical Oncology}, keywords = {phd, radiotherapy, w-time}, month = {June}, number = {4}, pages = {299--306}, posted-at = {2009-10-14 09:27:26}, priority = {2}, title = {Clinical Prioritisation for Curative Radiotherapy: A Local Waiting List Initiative}, url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2003.12.008}, volume = {16}, year = {2004} }

TY - JOUR ID - citeulike:5938560 L3 - citeulike-article-id:5938560 N2 - Aims: Waiting time for radiotherapy is a major problem in radiation oncology practice. The aim of this paper is to present the experience of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in trialling a number of strategies to reduce patient waiting times. Materials and methods : All patients starting megavoltage radiotherapy with curative intent in three separate 1-week blocks had their waiting times recorded. The cohorts were each 8 weeks apart and were before (September), during (November) and after (January) the introduction of a priority points system. Results: Median waiting time was 35 days in September, 42 days in November and 31 days in January. The number of extremely long waits (>90 days) decreased to 1 by January. Significantly more patients were pre-booked for treatment in January (27/51) compared with September (17/65; P =0.003) and November (12/65; P <0.001). Pre-booked patients had shorter waiting times compared with patients who was not pre-booked ( P <0.0001). Difficulties at one particular treating location contributed to the longer median waiting times in November. Although there had no significant difference in waiting time in non-breast unit patients between the three cohorts, there was a decrease in waiting times in breast unit patients, especially between November and January ( P =0.0008). There was no significant increase in delay to starting treatment in other treating units, resulting in more equitable access across all units. Conclusions: A combination of encouraging pre-booking and the introduction of a priority points system has led to a decrease in waiting times, especially among breast unit patients. IS - 4 JF - Clinical Oncology SN - 09366555 EP - 306 TI - Clinical Prioritisation for Curative Radiotherapy: A Local Waiting List Initiative VL - 16 SP - 299 KW - phd KW - radiotherapy KW - w-time AU - Martin, J PY - 2004/06// UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.clon.2003.12.008 ER -