136 Background: To evaluate the impact a new Advanced Practice Palliative Radiation Therapist (APRT) role had on patients treated with palliative intent, with respect to reducing time from referral to treatment. To evaluate the technical ability of the APRT to delineate palliative field borders on digitally reconstructed radiographs (DRR) compared to the treating Radiation Oncologist (RO). Methods: The time in working days from referral to treatment and referral to planning was recorded for all palliative patients having 10 fractions or less. The patients were classified into two groups. Patients from G1 were referred to one of four selected ROs or directly to the APRT. All clinical and technical elements of their radiotherapy treatment were managed by the APRT. Patients from G2 were referred to one of the remaining four ROs in the department and had their radiation therapy treatment managed through the standard pathway. The APRT delineated field borders on all patients in G1, blinded to the ROs field delineation. The RO then deemed the APRTs field placement acceptable or unacceptable. If unacceptable the RO documented the reasons for rejection. Results: Over 5 months, data was collected on 150 palliative patients. The APRT managed 94 patients. The remaining 56 patients were processed through the standard pathway. The APRT delineated 90 palliative fields on patients blinded to the RO. Of these, 89% were deemed acceptable by the RO. Conclusions: There has been a positive impact with respect to reducing time from referral to treatment for patients receiving palliative radiotherapy with the introduction of the APRT role in palliative radiotherapy.[Table: see text]
Towards a Model for Regional Advanced Practice Radiation Therapist Roles
