The arrival of new, state-of-the-art equipment in radiotherapy at Colchester and Ipswich hospitals is making time matter for patients – and staff too.
An investment of £6million to bring the Varian Halcyon (at Colchester Hospital) and Ethos (at Ipswich Hospital) linear accelerator machines to ESNEFT has already halved the length of appointment slots and improved patient experience.
The machines use high energy x-ray beams to give radiotherapy to cancer patients.
Gemma Bourne and Nicola Garnham are the Trust’s heads of radiotherapy services. They explained the new machines can image and treat cancer patients faster, delivering high-quality, image-guided radiotherapy. The machines are less claustrophobic for patients – once they are in it and on the bed, they’re now able to see out the other side. Patients also spend less time physically inside the machine as treatment times are quicker, the quality of the images they generate are “brilliant” and they are less noisy.
Shafi Sayed is operational lead for radiotherapy at Colchester Hospital.
He said: “The Halcyon machine gives us clinical confidence in what we are achieving for patients. We can increase the dose of radiotherapy we are giving them with more accuracy.
“It is sophisticated, quick and it’s cut 15-minute appointment slots down to eight minutes, so it’s great for performance and patient care. We’re able to use our slots more effectively so more patients can come and get their treatment.
“It’s calm, quiet and has improved patient experience.”
There have been similar improvements at Ipswich Hospital too, with appointment times being reduced from 15 minutes to 10 minutes.
Ipswich radiotherapy team colleagues
Helder Campos, operational lead for radiotherapy at Ipswich, pictured far left in the photo above, said: “We can be more accurate in terms of our imaging. There’s been a great improvement with the image quality – we can see more information – that’s been massively important.
“Patient experience is also better as they spend less time on the bed.”
Not only are the machines improving patient care and experience, they’re also easier for staff to use.
Lara Burgess, senior therapeutic radiographer at Colchester Hospital, pictured below right wearing a pink lanyard, said: “It’s so simple and efficient to use.
Colchester radiotherapy team colleagues
“It’s so much quicker as it has automated a lot of processes, so it does speed things up a lot in and out of the room.”
The Ipswich machine, below, is also capable of delivering adaptive radiation therapy (ART).
The Ethos radiotherapy machine at Ipswich Hospital
This will allow cancer treatment to be accurately personalised using artificial intelligence (AI) to address changes that can happen with a tumour on a daily basis, such as its shape and position in the body.
Helder added: “The machine will take all those differences into account and recalculate the treatment plan which will help to manage the severity of side effects and retain healthy tissues.
“It’s a massive step in terms of what radiotherapy can offer.”
It is hoped this one-stop service will launch for patients in east Suffolk later this year, meaning their treatment can be tailored to them in line with their clinical needs. It would also take away the need for an additional planning scans, meaning patients can receive their adapted treatment quickly.
Although it’s not in place at Colchester Hospital yet, the Halcyon machine, below, can be upgraded retrospectively to include the ART technology in future.
The Halcyon radiotherapy machine at Colchester Hospital