International Journal Rehabilitation and Palliative Medicine. 2023. 1(8): 41-51; doi 10.15574/IJRPM.2023.8.41
Pylypenko M. I.¹, Stadnyk L. L.², Rygan M. M.³, Skaleckyj Ju. M.⁴, Shalyopa O. Ju.²

1. Kharkiv National Medical University, Ukraine
2. Grigoriev Institute for medical Radiology of the NAMS of Ukraine
3. Medical Center “Clinic of modern orthopedics”, Kyiv, Ukraine
4. National Commission for Radiation Protection of Ukraine, Kyiv

The relevance of the problem of patient safety in oncoradiology in Ukraine and other countries has been substantiated.
The purpose – is to assess the safety of patients receiving radiation therapy and the magnitude of the health and social consequences of human error in this area.
Materials and methods. The material of the study was the results of international TLD audit (IAEA/WHO) of the dosimetry quality during procedures on cobalt telegram devices in Ukraine as well as the international and domestic regulatory framework on safety of the radiotherapy care, and scientific publications of domestic and foreign specialists on patient safety. The methods of the research: statistical, analytical, bibliographic, systems approach.
Results. By the example of radiotherapy using the results of the international IAEA/WHO program on the TLD audit of the quality of the dosimetric calibration of the remote gamma-therapy units in Ukraine in 1998-2014, an attempt has been made to estimate the scale of medico-social consequences of the underestimation of medical errors in oncoradiology. The problems of regulatory nature of medical errors in oncoradiology had been tentatively identified.
Conclusions. The problem of medical errors in the treatment of cancer patients with radiation oncology in Ukraine is extremely topical. Usually the problems of errors in oncoradiology are considered in the organizational, methodological, personnel and technical aspects, while the medico-social consequences of the problem are not covered. In the optimistic scenario, about 10,000 cancer patients for a year may suffer from dose-related errors alone, while in the pessimistic scenario the number may be as high as 15,000 over the same period. There are legal issues to be clarified in oncoradiology for patient safety reasons. The first priority for improving patient safety in oncoradiology is to record and analyze defects in radiotherapy and their consequences.
No conflict of interests was declared by the authors.
Keywords: patient safety, malpractice, medical errors, cobalt telegrams, TLD audit, radiation accident.

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