title: Quality assurance standards drive improvements in the profile of radiation therapy departments participating in trials of the EORTC Radiation Oncology Group.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The Facility Questionnaire (FQ) of the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Radiation Oncology Group (EORTC-ROG) evaluates the human, technical and organizational resources at each EORTC member institution. The purpose of this study is to use the FQ database to assess the improvement of radiation therapy (RT) structures and resources within the EORTC compared to the previous surveys performed by our group.
  
  
  METHODS
  We report the content of the current FQ database, completed online by 156 EORTC candidate member institutions from 22 countries between February 2011 and February 2013. Results are compared to FQ-published data from 1992 and 2007.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The average number of patients per year per EORTC institution is 2381 (range 350-12,000) an 18.2% increase compared to the 2007 figures. From 2007 to 2013 the average number of radiation oncologists, physicists and radiation technologists per EORTC institution has increased by 27% (from 8.5 to 10.8), 41% (from 5.2 to 7.4) and 38% (from 26.1 to 36.1) respectively. Consequently the number of patients per year per radiation oncologist has decreased from 258 to 243, for physicists from 426 to 354 and for radiation technologists from 107 to 86. One hundred and forty-six (94%) and 101 (65%) institutions can now deliver IMRT and SBRT, compared to 77 (79%) and 53 (54%) in 2007.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The standards set by the EORTC-ROG are met by a continually improving number of institutions, helping to safeguard use of advanced technologies in EORTC-ROG clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Quality Assurance Strategic Committee, EORTC, Brussels, Belgium; Oncology Centre, Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cheltenham, UK. Electronic address: warren.grant@glos.nhs.uk.
authors.forename: Warren
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Grant
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Catharina Hospital, Eindhoven, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Coen W
authors.initials: CW
authors.lastname: Hurkmans
authors.affiliation: Department for Radation Oncology, Radbound University Medical Center, Nijmegen Area, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Philip M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Poortmans
authors.affiliation: Centre Georges-François Leclerc, Département de Radiothérapie, Dijon, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Maingon
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Physics, Niguarda Ca' Granda Hospital, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: Angelo F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Monti
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiation Oncology, Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Marjolein J H
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: van Os
authors.affiliation: Radiotherapy Quality Assurance Strategic Committee, EORTC, Brussels, Belgium; Center for Proton Beam Therapy, Paul Scherrer Institute, Villigen, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Damien C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Weber
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D016208:Databases, Factual / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005060:Europe; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D011785:Quality Assurance, Health Care / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D018787:Radiation Oncology / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D011880:Radiotherapy Planning, Computer-Assisted / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016526:Workload / Q000706:statistics & numerical data
keywords: Clinical quality standards; Facility Questionnaire; Quality assurance; Radiotherapy