Radiotherapy infrastructure and human resources in Switzerland : Present status and projected computations for 2020

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the present status of radiotherapy infrastructure and human resources in Switzerland and compute projections for 2020.

The European Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology "Quantification of Radiation Therapy Infrastructure and Staffing" guidelines (ESTRO-QUARTS) and those of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) were applied to estimate the requirements for teleradiotherapy (TRT) units, radiation oncologists (RO), medical physicists (MP) and radiotherapy technologists (RTT). The databases used for computation of the present gap and additional requirements are (a) Global Cancer Incidence, Mortality and Prevalence (GLOBOCAN) for cancer incidence (b) the Directory of Radiotherapy Centres (DIRAC) of the IAEA for existing TRT units (c) human resources from the recent ESTRO "Health Economics in Radiation Oncology" (HERO) survey and (d) radiotherapy utilization (RTU) rates for each tumour site, published by the Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research (IIAMR).

In 2015, 30,999 of 45,903 cancer patients would have required radiotherapy. By 2020, this will have increased to 34,041 of 50,427 cancer patients. Switzerland presently has an adequate number of TRTs, but a deficit of 57 ROs, 14 MPs and 36 RTTs. By 2020, an additional 7 TRTs, 72 ROs, 22 MPs and 66 RTTs will be required. In addition, a realistic dynamic model for calculation of staff requirements due to anticipated changes in future radiotherapy practices has been proposed. This model could be tailor-made and individualized for any radiotherapy centre.

A 9.8 % increase in radiotherapy requirements is expected for cancer patients over the next 5 years. The present study should assist the stakeholders and health planners in designing an appropriate strategy for meeting future radiotherapy needs for Switzerland.