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Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)

Joe Purden Orcid Logo, Douglas Etheridge Orcid Logo, Christopher Rose Orcid Logo, Ryan Lewis Orcid Logo

Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice, Volume: 24, Start page: e17

Swansea University Author: Joe Purden Orcid Logo

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DOI (Published version): 10.1017/s1460396925000147

Abstract

Introduction: Before COVID-19, breast cancer patients in the UK typically received 15 radiotherapy (RT) fractions over three weeks. During the pandemic, adoption of a 5-fraction treatment prescription and more advanced treatment techniques like surface-guided RT, meant a change in the duration and n...

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Published in: Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice
ISSN: 1460-3969 1467-1131
Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69166
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spelling 2025-04-29T11:16:54.6450689 v2 69166 2025-03-28 Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review) 5460500136e327b41f17c548057ffab1 0000-0002-4441-8113 Joe Purden Joe Purden true false 2025-03-28 HSOC Introduction: Before COVID-19, breast cancer patients in the UK typically received 15 radiotherapy (RT) fractions over three weeks. During the pandemic, adoption of a 5-fraction treatment prescription and more advanced treatment techniques like surface-guided RT, meant a change in the duration and number of hospital visits for patients accessing treatment. This work sought to understand how breast cancer patients’ time in the RT department has changed, between 2018 and 2023. Methods: Appointments for CT simulation, mould room, and RT, from January 2018 to December 2023, were extracted from the Mosaiq® Oncology Management System. Appointments lasting between 5 minutes and 5 hours were analysed. Total visit time was calculated from check-in to completion on the quality checklist. Results: In total, 29,523 attendances were analysed over 6 years. Average time spent in the department decreased during the pandemic but has since increased 12·4% above pre-COVID-19 levels. Early morning and late afternoon appointments resulted in the shortest visits, with early afternoon appointments leading to the longest visits. On average, patients spend the longest in the department on a Monday, and the least amount of time on a Friday. Friday was the least common day to start a 15-fraction treatment, whereas Tuesday and Friday were equally uncommon for the 5-fraction regime. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visits a patient makes for breast cancer RT and related services dropped, and remained lower post-COVID-19, due to fewer treatment fractions being prescribed. Average time spent in the department initially decreased but has since increased beyond pre-COVID-19 levels. Journal Article Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice 24 e17 Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1460-3969 1467-1131 Breast cancer, burden, COVID-19, radiotherapy, time 28 4 2025 2025-04-28 10.1017/s1460396925000147 COLLEGE NANME Health and Social Care School COLLEGE CODE HSOC Swansea University SU Library paid the OA fee (TA Institutional Deal) Swansea University 2025-04-29T11:16:54.6450689 2025-03-28T12:52:41.9787941 Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences School of Health and Social Care - Healthcare Science Joe Purden 0000-0002-4441-8113 1 Douglas Etheridge 0009-0001-7059-9851 2 Christopher Rose 0000-0003-3074-9904 3 Ryan Lewis 0009-0008-6403-5583 4 69166__34131__7637618152cf4dc287a56e348595433c.pdf 69166.VOR.pdf 2025-04-29T11:13:16.7297223 Output 504099 application/pdf Version of Record true © The Author(s), 2025. This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (CC BY). true eng https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
title Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
spellingShingle Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
Joe Purden
title_short Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
title_full Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
title_fullStr Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
title_full_unstemmed Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
title_sort Time spent in the radiotherapy department for breast cancer treatment, pre-, mid- and post-COVID-19 pandemic (a 6-year, single-centre service review)
author_id_str_mv 5460500136e327b41f17c548057ffab1
author_id_fullname_str_mv 5460500136e327b41f17c548057ffab1_***_Joe Purden
author Joe Purden
author2 Joe Purden
Douglas Etheridge
Christopher Rose
Ryan Lewis
format Journal article
container_title Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice
container_volume 24
container_start_page e17
publishDate 2025
institution Swansea University
issn 1460-3969
1467-1131
doi_str_mv 10.1017/s1460396925000147
publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
college_str Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
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hierarchy_top_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_top_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
hierarchy_parent_id facultyofmedicinehealthandlifesciences
hierarchy_parent_title Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences
department_str School of Health and Social Care - Healthcare Science{{{_:::_}}}Faculty of Medicine, Health and Life Sciences{{{_:::_}}}School of Health and Social Care - Healthcare Science
document_store_str 1
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description Introduction: Before COVID-19, breast cancer patients in the UK typically received 15 radiotherapy (RT) fractions over three weeks. During the pandemic, adoption of a 5-fraction treatment prescription and more advanced treatment techniques like surface-guided RT, meant a change in the duration and number of hospital visits for patients accessing treatment. This work sought to understand how breast cancer patients’ time in the RT department has changed, between 2018 and 2023. Methods: Appointments for CT simulation, mould room, and RT, from January 2018 to December 2023, were extracted from the Mosaiq® Oncology Management System. Appointments lasting between 5 minutes and 5 hours were analysed. Total visit time was calculated from check-in to completion on the quality checklist. Results: In total, 29,523 attendances were analysed over 6 years. Average time spent in the department decreased during the pandemic but has since increased 12·4% above pre-COVID-19 levels. Early morning and late afternoon appointments resulted in the shortest visits, with early afternoon appointments leading to the longest visits. On average, patients spend the longest in the department on a Monday, and the least amount of time on a Friday. Friday was the least common day to start a 15-fraction treatment, whereas Tuesday and Friday were equally uncommon for the 5-fraction regime. Conclusions: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of visits a patient makes for breast cancer RT and related services dropped, and remained lower post-COVID-19, due to fewer treatment fractions being prescribed. Average time spent in the department initially decreased but has since increased beyond pre-COVID-19 levels.
published_date 2025-04-28T05:27:27Z
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