Inside News

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Radiation Oncology
50 Inside News
It is the Faculty’s view that maintaining
the ROHPG scheme is vital to keep the
nation’s fleet of linacs within its agreed
lifespan.
We will seek the support of cancer
consumers and other stakeholders in the
cancer community to help us advocate
for continuation of this scheme, to
ensure that radiation oncology centres
have current, reliable equipment,
capable of delivering the latest
treatment techniques.
The Faculty will continue to work closely
with the DoH and the MBS Review
Taskforce in 2016 to hopefully ensure
the ongoing provision of accessible and
affordable quality radiation oncology
services to our patients.
Quality Assurance for Radiation
Therapy Services
The Faculty published the Quality
Guidelines for Volume Delineation in
Radiation Oncology and Position Paper
on Image Guided Radiation Therapy
(IGRT) 2015 in December last year.
I encourage all members to read the
‘Policy in Action’ pieces on pages 25 and
27 in this edition of Inside News, and to
incorporate these documents into their
everyday practice.
The Faculty’s Position Paper on Particle
Therapy was also published late last year.
This document aims to inform cancer
professionals, health professionals,
health administrators, consumers and
interested individuals about the current
status of particle therapy internationally,
the evidence for their use and the target
population.
All these documents are available from
the College website. I would like to
take this opportunity to thank all our
members who have volunteered their
time in developing and/or reviewing
these important papers.
Training and Research for
Radiation Oncology
The Faculty Council is committed to
producing excellent radiation oncology
specialists, and appreciates the need for
continuous improvement of the training
curriculum and assessment tools.
In 2015, the College engaged the
services of Prof David Prideaux and
the Australian Council for Educational
Research to conduct a review of the
training and assessment involved in both
faculties. The final report, including a list
recommendations, has been presented
to the Board and Faculty Councils.
The Faculty views the implementation
of those recommendations as a priority
for this year, and I am confident this task
is left in capable hands of the Radiation
Oncology Education and Training
Committee, under the leadership of
A/Prof Margot Lehman.
The Faculty also remains committed
to fostering a culture of research in
radiation oncology. I thank the Radiation
Oncology Research Committee for their
initiatives in this regard. We are also
keen to continue and formalise our close
collaboration with the Trans-Tasman
Radiation Oncology Group (TROG).
If you have any feedback or
comments on any of the above,
please email .
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