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THE AIMS OF THE EAST OF ENGLAND RADIOTHERAPY NETWORK
To improve access for patients and ensure equipment utilised effectively
We aim to:
* Improve access across the Network to modern, advanced, and innovative radiotherapy techniques and support equipment replacement.
* Ensure treatments are available as close to home as possible, while ensuring the appropriate expertise are in place.
* Reduce variation in equipment utilisation, subject to workforce availability.
To improve patient experience
We aim to:
* Ensure that patients have access to skilled, experienced, multi-professional teams who can provide holistic care.
* Provide high quality patient information.
* Collaborate with patients and carers to improve radiotherapy services in the Network.
To increase participation in radiotherapy clinical trials
We want to increase participation in radiotherapy clinical trials, helping to develop new treatments and drive the development of clinical services.
Recruit, train, and retain the radiotherapy workforce
We aim to ensure a joined-up plan is in place to make the most of the current workforce, through skills development and approaches that enable people to ‘work at top of their license’. We will also plan activities to recruit and train the radiotherapy workforce for the future.
Reduce variation in the quality of radiotherapy
We aim to:
* Develop, agree, and adopt standardised best practice radiotherapy treatment protocols. This will support the improvement of patient outcomes, including reducing mortality and morbidity from adverse side effects.
*Use national Quality Improvement Toolkits and ProKnow audit data (where available) to support improvements in radiotherapy planning.
Chair: Dr Sue Broster
We welcome Dr Sue Broster as our interim Chair of the Radiotherapy Network . Dr Broster succeeds Dr Ashley Shaw as interim Medical Director at CUHFT.
Deputy Chair: Dr Sarah Jefferies
I am a consultant clinical oncologist based at Cambridge University Hospital (CUH). My clinical focus is in the management and treatment of skull base tumours and thyroid cancers. I have extensive experience as a local principal investigator leading on the management and delivery of clinical trials in neuro-oncology and thyroid cancer. I am committed in advocating for excellence in training neuro-oncologists for the future in my role as leader of the Fellowship Programme with the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission.
I have experience in a number of senior leadership roles. I am currently a deputy medical director in the Chief Medical Office at CUH. In this role I have been leading and delivering complex multidisciplinary projects within the hospital and the Addenbrooke’s Campus. I have been deputy chair of the East of England Radiotherapy Network since its inception which is a collaboration between the six hospitals within in the East of England working together to provide the best radiotherapy delivery and outcomes for the patient population. I have had a national role as chair of the NICE Guideline Committee for maternal and child Nutrition and weight management in pregnancy and nutrition in children up to 5 years (NG247) which was published in January 2025.
Clinical Lead: Dr Daniel Holyoake
I am taking on the role of Clinical Lead for the Radiotherapy Network from 2025. I aim to guide the team in preparing the Network for the challenges it faces and responding to the needs of its constituent hospitals and their patients. I am a Consultant in Clinical Oncology at Norfolk & Norwich University Hospitals NHS Trust and have been since 2019. I specialise in the treatment of upper-gastrointestinal and HPB cancers and sarcoma.
I completed specialty training in the East of England and a DPhil research fellowship in pancreas cancer radiotherapy at Oxford. The science of radiotherapy technology development is exciting and I try to pass on my enthusiasm to the doctors in training that I supervise .
I believe in the potential opportunities for the region to work in closer collaboration, for the benefits of our staff and patients. I am passionate about the importance of radiotherapy in our cancer treatment armoury, but in the world of increasing systemic therapy options, radiotherapy must continue to develop and improve through service evolution and clinical research.
SABR Clinical Lead: Dr Alex Martin
My role is to provide strong clinical leadership for the continued roll-out of stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) in the EofE RTN. This role supports an increase in the knowledge of clinicians, radiographers and physicists from across the EofE RTN to ensure excellent quality SABR treatment. I currently chair the EofE RTN SABR clinical meeting. This regular platform allows all centres to share experiences of SABR case selection, treatment planning and delivery, and post-treatment follow up.
Programme Manager: Michelle Bates
I have been in my role since October 2019, when the EofE RTN was officially launched. Before this I worked as a Therapeutic Radiographer in several departments across England, and also worked in Ireland and New Zealand. This has allowed me to develop a broad understanding of radiotherapy over the years, and led me to my final clinical role of radiotherapy treatment superintendent at the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital (NNUH).
In my role I am required to work alongside the established team to facilitate effective and timely delivery of the radiotherapy service specification across the East of England. By building relationships and facilitating collaboration between radiotherapy colleagues and stakeholders across the network, I believe we can deliver improvements that can build resilience, improve the quality of services, and enhance the experience of radiotherapy for our patients. I am keen to raise the profile of the EofE RTN amongst the many stakeholders involved in radiotherapy regionally and nationally, as well as with patients. I would like to help increase recruitment into the radiotherapy workforce in our Network, and to ensure all patients are able to access radiotherapy where it is an appropriate treatment option.
Project Manager: Alison Bowman
I've been in my role since 2023. I have worked in radiotherapy for many years after qualifying as a Therapeutic Radiographer. I've worked in 5 Hospital Trusts and for two healthcare charities. In 2004, I became one of the first On Treatment Review Radiographers, establishing the role and developing the radiotherapy review service. Since then, I have developed and established patient and carer services for Macmillan Cancer Support and for a hospital charity in a large London hospital. More recently, I managed projects for different radiotherapy Networks.
In my role, I am required to support Michelle delivering the Service Specification. I manage various projects to deliver the service specification and support achieving our aims for the Network. I enjoy using data to support service development, so that people outside of the radiotherapy world can see the impact of innovation and understand the challenges that services and people who use the services experience. I am passionate about patient co-production, and keeping people who use our services central to service development.
Patient Co-Production Group
The patient co-production group comprises people who have had radiotherapy at each of our departments. We work with professionals to improve services. Co-Production is ensuring that people with lived experience are included in decision making, to ensure services work well, and are fit for purpose. The group allows people who have used radiotherapy to share their experiences and knowledge to shape future services.
2025/ 2026 WORK PROGRAMME
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