Top Scots Cancer Centre Fails to Report Dozens of Radiation Blunders

EXCLUSIVE

By Paul Thornton

SCOTLAND’S top cancer treatment centre is failing to report dozens of radiation blunders every year – despite guidance by the chief medical officer to do so.

Five serious radiation events at the Beatson West of Scotland Cancer Centre were recorded in the last three years and reported to the Scottish Government while staff faced disciplinary measures.

But bosses at the state of the art facility failed to pass on a further 69 “clinically significant” mix-ups during the same period.

And only one member of staff during that time was reported to the Health Professionals Council or subject to disciplinary procedures over the incidents.

Management at the centre actually admitted that she was only ever reported after deciding to leave – otherwise it too would have been dealt with internally.

However a 2008 paper by Sir Liam Donaldson sees the outgoing Chief Medical Officer call on every major error involving radiotherapy to be logged with the appropriate body.

In his report, Towards Safer Radiotherapy, Sir Donaldson wrote: “Reporting clinically significant radiation incidents to the statutory authority is good clinical governance even if there is no legal requirement to do so.”