Radiotherapy Information for Patients

Thank you for your interest in the East of England Radiotherapy Network Patient Co-Production Volunteer Group. We appreciate you taking the time to read this information, which outlines the role of a Patient Co-Production Volunteer. This group plays a vital role in supporting those involved in radiotherapy clinical trials and provides insights into managing the side effects of radiotherapy. Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions.

Patient Co-Production Volunteers leverage their personal experiences with radiotherapy services to influence both current and future offerings. Within our patient co-production group, roles encompass consulting on the Network’s annual work plan, the configuration of radiotherapy services (determining where radiotherapy services are delivered), the development of patient information, and action plans for surveys regarding the patient radiotherapy experience. Participation does not require any skills beyond your personal experience of utilizing radiotherapy services in the past five years. We also encourage feedback on any reasonable adjustments needed to facilitate your involvement, such as providing easy-read versions of documents. Additionally, insights from your experience can help inform discussions on the side effects of radiotherapy and improve participation in radiotherapy clinical trials.

Co-Production involves engaging individuals with lived experience in decision-making processes to ensure that services, such as those provided in radiotherapy clinical trials, are effective and tailored to the needs of patients, their families, and carers. By collaborating with people and communities, services become fit for purpose, allowing individuals to feel valued and heard. Leveraging everyone’s experience and expertise will enable us to reach the right solutions more quickly, ultimately improving service delivery. This role will support the patient co-production group in ensuring that every person receiving radiotherapy within the East of England has equal access to high-quality radiotherapy, adhering to the same treatment protocols and national recommendations, while also addressing the side effects of radiotherapy.

Any patient or carer of someone who has undergone radiotherapy in one of the East of England radiotherapy departments within the last five years is welcome to join our patient co-production group. The individual must be over 18 years old. This group will also explore the side effects of radiotherapy and discuss participation in radiotherapy clinical trials. Training and DBS checks are required as part of the role.

Meetings for the patient co-production group will be held online during the day and in the evening. The time commitment will depend on the action plan you will be supporting, particularly in relation to radiotherapy clinical trials, but usually this is no more than once a month, with some email correspondence in-between. Before you accept any specific role, we will advise you of the time commitments needed, especially considering the potential side effects of radiotherapy.

Thank you for taking the time to read this information about our patient co-production group. If you would like to apply, or have further questions regarding our radiotherapy clinical trials and the side effects of radiotherapy, please contact Alison Bowman, the Network Project Manager.