Winner

Managing radiotherapy induced skin reactions – an educational toolkit for healthcare professionals

by St. James’s Institute of Oncology, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust

An educational toolkit was developed to support healthcare professionals in assessing and managing radiotherapy-induced skin reactions. These unwanted effects can range from mild erythema to confluent moist desquamation – and may affect 85-90 per cent of patients in a moderate to severe form. 

Correctly assessing and managing these skin reactions increases patient comfort, treatment compliance and offers an enhanced quality of life. The toolkit offers a knowledge base and practical guidance for all healthcare professionals, with and without specialist knowledge, in a variety of healthcare settings. It can be used as a framework to inform local guidelines, and has also been implemented in national and international centres.

It is available as a printed booklet, an e-document and a ‘web app’. There have been over 1,100 electronic downloads from the Yorkshire Cancer Network website and requests for copies from around the world.

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