More about radiotherapy > Quality and safety
You are in good hands here:
Quality and safety.
The medical use of highly complex technical devices is a cause for anxiety or discomfort in many people. But you can feel safe with us. We place particular emphasis on high-quality and completely safe radiotherapy.
To this end, we have introduced and certified a comprehensive quality management system according to DIN ISO 9001.
An internal fault detection system and a risk management system are part of this quality management system. All known and foreseeable hazards have been recorded, evaluated and dealt with by appropriate measures in a safety report.
A written radiation protection directive regulates the work processes for the protection of patients, staff and visitors. Several competent radiation protection officers are responsible for radiation protection and are always on site during operation.
The radiotherapy of each cancer patient is individually optimized by means of complex computer-aided 3D irradiation planning. The spatial distribution of the dose in the body is precisely calculated in advance and adjusted so that no organ receives a higher dose than it can tolerate.
Numerous safety measures are used to avoid errors such as placing the side incorrectly or mixing up the patients: the dual control principle is consistently applied and each radiotherapy plan is jointly confirmed and secured against changes by a specialist physician and medical physician, and is then tested or evaluated by a second medical physician. Before the first radiotherapy session takes place, all radiation parameters are again checked by a specialist together with the Medical Radiology Assistants (MTRA) before the radiation is released.
Before each radiotherapy session, each patient is unambiguously identified according to a predefined inquiry procedure using his first and last name. Colour coding based on the Poka-Yoke principle as well as matching the patient with identification photos help to avoid confusing patients.
On the radiotherapy device, several hundred machine parameters are continuously monitored, fully automatically, by means of a digital interlock system. If only one value is outside its tolerance, the device switches off the radiation immediately or does not release it at all. Then the cause of the error must be found and eliminated. Therefore, if the radiotherapy device should be out of operation and your radiotherapy appointment be postponed, you do not need to worry that the device "does not work properly". On the contrary, these very high safety precautions mean that there are occasional unplanned interruptions ("fail-save principle").
An additional personal monitoring system ensures that the radiation can only be switched on when there is no other person in the radiotherapy room other than the patient.
The X-ray equipment permanently installed on each radiotherapy device enables the control and, if necessary, a millimetre-accurate correction of the patient position and organ movements, and thus help to precisely hit the target area with radiation and to protect surrounding organs (image-guided radiotherapy) (IGRT).
Each patient is constantly monitored by a responsible person during radiotherapy via a video and speech connection. Radiotherapy can be interrupted immediately at any time and continued later.
An electronic Record & Verify system automatically documents all radiotherapy sessions and the dose received for each patient. It only allows the radiation to be given which has been planned beforehand in the radiotherapy plans, and which are approved by a specialist physician and medical physician expert. Too many or too few radiation doses can therefore be safely prevented
Our highly-qualified staff is a further important factor in avoiding errors:
All employees working with the radiotherapy device have completed a three-year, state-certified vocational training as MTRA as well as a corresponding specialist in radiation protection qualification.
All important workflows are defined in writing. New employees are trained and educated internally. External further education and training is planned, implemented and regularly checked for effectiveness.
Due to forward-looking and flexible scheduling, we avoid stress situations, which is one of the most frequent sources of error at all.
We maintain an open culture of error tolerance and critical communication in the team, which helps to avoid possible misunderstandings through a quick inquiry.
The proper functioning of all technical devices is ensured throughout their use:
Regular quality assurance measures, dosage measurements and constancy tests on radiotherapy devices, imaging modalities and planning systems according to a defined quality assurance concept are self-evident.
These quality assurance measures are examined and evaluated by the medical centre every two years (see certificates on the left).
The radiotherapy equipment and its safety functions are also subject to external checks by means of annual expert tests by TÜV Süd (report).
Our dosage measuring gauges are also independently checked using a measuring technology test.
All medical devices are subjected to a safety check.
We take the protection of personal data very seriously:
In our privacy policy, each patient is informed exactly under which circumstances we may pass which data to which persons. Only in these special cases, and with the written consent of the patient, do we grant third parties access to this data.
Electronically stored data is protected against external access. Patient data is never transmitted using an unsecured method.
If you have questions or concerns about the safety and quality of our radiotherapy, please contact us! We would be happy to explain the background of the radiotherapy or let you take a look behind the scenes.