ESTRO 2024 - Abstract Book

S5701

RTT - Patient experience and quality of life

ESTRO 2024

1. Understand the landscape of paediatric radiotherapy in England and Wales. 2. Open a conversation about awake radiotherapy with healthcare professionals (HCPs), patients and their families. 3. Promote the positive impact of awake radiotherapy. 4. Develop resources which support children to access awake radiotherapy.

Material/Methods:

We surveyed HCPs working in paediatric radiotherapy, including play specialists, radiographers and nurses from across England and Wales. We focused on current practice within their centres and the use of general anaesthetic (GA).

I was interviewed on the Rad Chat podcast about our family’s experience and the radiotherapy project. Helping connect our charity with therapeutic radiographers who were working within radiotherapy.

Delivering workshops on Treating Paediatric Patients and Supporting their Families for students at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU).

Speaking at the Oncology Professional Care (OPC) conference about our family’s experience, the charity and radiotherapy project.

We developed an animation, several video resources to familiarise children and their families with awake radiotherapy.

Results:

Results are shared for our four objectives:

1:

The survey showed 90% of children (age 9-12) accessed treatment without GA, this dropped 50% for children (age 5). There was a correlation between the number of awake radiotherapy treatments and centres (50%) which had a play specialist and/or playroom.

Anecdotal evidence from parents suggests that awake radiotherapy for younger children is not an option.

The survey showed that HCPs felt GA for radiotherapy made treatment more effective as the child is still.

2 and 3:

We have gained a trustee who is a lecturer in Therapeutic Radiography as a result of this project. Speaking on Rad Chat and at OPC has helped further open the conversations.

We evaluated student response to our training at SHU:

“Addressing paediatric patients and the considerations. I think we learn so much about adult treatments and interactions that when it comes to paediatrics, it's hard to adjust. It was very eye opening and was really good at looking at the considerations.”