Late Effects Services Team receive awards for Radiography Team of the Year
It was a night of celebration last month, as the South West Regional Late Effects Services Team were awarded two top prizes at the 2024 Radiography Awards, including the Radiography Team of the Year award for the South West region.
Zoe Rowett, Radiotherapy Service Manager for the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust, was among those who attended the awards ceremony in London, where it was announced the team had also received the award for UK Radiography Team of the Year – the national recognition complimenting their win for the South West region.
Speaking about the awards, Zoe explains:
“This is an amazing achievement. To see the Society of Radiographers recognise the Late Effects Service for its work and acknowledge it with this fantastic award is a brilliant result for the entire team.”
The Radiotherapy Late Effects Service has been established as part of a pilot project that was rolled out throughout the whole of the South West. The Late Effects Service is a specialised service delivered by Therapeutic Radiographers, who can identify symptoms related to the long term, late effects of radiotherapy and then treat patients in accordance with their symptoms.
Emma Crozier, Senior Radiographer and Late Effects Radiographer, is leading the pilot project for RCHT. Emma, who also attended the awards ceremony, explains the background of the pilot and how the service benefits our patients:
“This pilot came about as there are significant numbers of people living with late effects of radiotherapy, impacting on their health, quality of life and ability to perform everyday activities. Radiotherapy late effects are symptoms that can happen any time from 3-6 months to many years after radiotherapy has been completed. Many people go on to recover and return to their roles, responsibilities and hobbies after cancer treatment, however, there will be some people who have ongoing issues.
“Late effects of radiotherapy can vary between people and depend on which part of the body was treated. They can include pain or swelling in the area, skin changes, loss of movement or function. This service helps to reduce appointments with other services both within the hospital setting and primary care, therefore reducing the cost to the hospital and providing more personalised and streamlined care for these patients.
“The Radiotherapy Late Effects Service aims to support people to live well with late effects of radiotherapy by listening, offering lifestyle changes and management advice, prescribing medication, providing information or referring to other specialist services. It is important to realise that it is not always possible to remove radiotherapy late effects altogether. This service has shown to reduce the impact of late effects and improve quality of life for patients that have undergone radiotherapy and have ongoing symptoms.”
The Late Effects Services team are now providing a multi-award-winning service.
“In 2023 the Southwest Regional Late Effects Services team won the Macmillan Professionals Excellence Award,” Zoe continues, “and this year the team has now been awarded the Radiography Team of the Year for the Southwestregion and the UK as a whole! This is an amazing achievement and shows how valuable this service is for patients experiencing late effects from radiotherapy.”