Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14

Publication

Release Date: 11 Nov 2015

Topic: Radiotherapy

Media release

AIHW

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (2015) Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14, AIHW, Australian Government, accessed 20 April 2024.

APA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. (2015). Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14. Canberra: AIHW.

MLA

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14. AIHW, 2015.

Vancouver

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14. Canberra: AIHW; 2015.

Harvard

Australian Institute of Health and Welfare 2015, Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14, AIHW, Canberra.

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In this report on the first pilot year collection of national radiotherapy data, data were received from 53 (out of 72) service locations across Australia. These services contributed information about 47,700 courses of radiotherapy delivered in 2013–14. For non-emergency treatment, 50% of patients started treatment within 13 days and 90% started within 33 days. For those who needed emergency treatment, 90% began treatment within the emergency timeframe.

ISBN: 978-1-74249-854-6
Cat. no: HSE 167
Pages: 58

Findings from this report:

53 of 72 radiotherapy sites across Australia reported data for 2013–14, including 37 out of 38 public providers
Almost 47,700 courses of radiotherapy were reported—37,700 in public settings and 10,000 in private settings
50% of non-emergency patients received treatment within 13 days, and 90% received treatment within 33 days
For emergency patients (2% of courses), 90% began treatment on the same day or the next day

Summary

This report examines the pilot year collection of radiotherapy waiting times for 2013-14.

In 2013-14, radiotherapy was delivered at 72 different locations across Australia:

53 of these reported data to this collection
37 out of 38 public radiotherapy providers contributed.

These service providers reported almost 47,700 courses of radiotherapy that started in 2013‒14.

People who started radiotherapy in 2013-14

53% of treatments had a curative intent. 40% was palliative.
Almost 37,700 courses were delivered in public settings, and 10,000 in private settings.
The most common principal diagnoses were breast, prostate and lung cancers.

Radiotherapy waiting times

50% of non-emergency treatments started within 13 days.
90% of non-emergency treatments started within 33 days.
90% of emergency cases started treatment on the same or next day.
41 of the 53 services participated (almost 38,700 courses).
Waiting time is the number of days between when the patient was ready-for-care, and when the radiotherapy started.
50% of palliative patients started treatment within 7 days (90% within 21 days).
50% of curative patients started treatment within 18 days (90% within 35 days).