They deliver thousands of treatments every month, have re-designed pathways to provide quicker care and now Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust’s (MTW) radiotherapy teams have scooped a prestigious award for the service they provide to patients across Kent and Medway.

The teams based at MTW’s Kent Oncology Centre sites at Kent and Canterbury Hospital and Maidstone Hospital were announced as the winners of the Team of the Year for the South East award at the 2024 Radiography Awards, hosted by the Society of Radiographers, on 7 November after being recognised for their work in improving patient waiting times for treatment.

The teams provide more than 50,000 treatments each year and have worked together to find efficiencies in day-to-day processes to enable the Trust to reduce the number of patients waiting over 31 days for radiotherapy.

Recent improvements and efficiencies have included an upskilling project to support with additional training for colleagues, changes to service including bladder scanning clinics moved away from treatment rooms to help reduce any delays as well as timing audits being carried out to help create more treatment slots.

Within the last two years, the department has also invested in technology to help support more accurate and quicker treatment with the arrival of two Halcyon machines.

These developments mean MTW are now achieving all three national cancer standards consistently, with the Trust also delivering the 62-day standard for five years in a row. This means MTW’s cancer services are one of the best performing in the country. And this has been achieved despite a 60% increase in referrals since April 2022.

Chief of Cancer Services for MTW, Philippa Moth said: “Our radiotherapy teams have introduced a number of patient-centred improvements which have enabled us to change the way we deliver care and it is fantastic to see their work recognised. Most importantly, meeting these targets means we are seeing and treating our patients more quickly and ensuring those diagnosed with cancer are given the care they need, when they need it.”

Head of Radiotherapy services, Amanda Williams said: “We are very proud of our progress but we are now looking forwards to build on our success so existing and new patients can continue to access world-class cancer care and treatment.”

MTW is the fifth largest cancer centre in the country and provides specialist cancer services to around two million people across Kent, Medway and East Sussex from two main hospital sites in Canterbury and in Maidstone and runs outpatient clinics across Kent and Medway.