The Christie Foundation Trust Annual Report and Accounts 2021-22

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust Annual Report & Accounts 2021-22

Radiotherapy

Whilst the year 2021/22 saw the challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic continue, it also saw the activity of the Radiotherapy services recover in line with demand. Up to the end of February 2022, the number of radiotherapy booking forms submitted (762) was consistent with that seen pre-pandemic (2019/20) whilst the number of fractions delivered is down by 1402 fractions per month. This reduction in fractions is directly attributable to the hypofractionation of breast radiotherapy, delivering it in 5 attendances instead of 15. Although this change was introduced as a mechanism to reduce footfall during the pandemic, it has continued to deliver excellent outcomes whilst making immeasurable gains in terms of patient experience. Furthermore, it has created capacity to continue with innovation and the development of new techniques, including: • The expansion of Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy (SABR) activity, including the introduction of a single fraction lung treatment technique; • The full roll-out of the breast Deep Inspiration Breath Hold (DIBH) technique across all centres; and • The introduction of daily imaging for bladder and prostate patients. The satellite centres have once again been a key part of our service improvement in year. The team at Salford have continued to drive advancements in Stereotactic Radiosurgery (SRS) working with the Radiotherapy Education team to create an SRS Digital Learning Platform and Christie Medical Physics & Engineering (CMPE) on the migration of SRS treatment planning onto the Raystation platform. The team at Oldham have received positive feedback nationally for their work on frailty assessment in radiotherapy, also recognised by their recent success in the Trust’s

Quality Improvement and Clinical Audit (QICA) Awards. Christie @ Macclesfield This year saw the culmination of the Macclesfield project, opening on 13 th December 2021. This is part of our strategy to bring advanced radiotherapy closer to home. The first patient was treated on the 7 th February, swiftly followed by their first lung SABR treatment on 18 th February. March has seen Macclesfield open its second machine alongside its first chemo radiotherapy indication (anus), which will soon be followed by bladder and gynaecological indications. Research It has been a year of firsts on the Magnetic Resonance Linear Accelerator (MRL), with the first Cervix, Lung and Head and Neck patients treated on the machine. Also notable is our first full fractionated cervix treated in 2021 using this technology - a world first! In addition to their clinical duties, throughout the year the MRL team have produced 5 published journal papers and have had material accepted at 6 separate conferences. From a trials perspective, 2021 was the first full year using the trials implementation process. This system allows the team to more accurately gauge the resource implications of developing a new trial, whilst providing an increased level of oversight and transparency to all stakeholders prior to set up. Since it was introduced, the system has seen a 100% uplift in the number of trials being given radiotherapy support. Proton Beam Therapy PBT activity has remained consistent with last year, with 290 patients having completed treatment by the end of February exceeding the full year projections of 207 patients set by NHS England – and this is despite the opening of University College London Hospitals NHS

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