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Issued:23/04/10
A Sheffield Hallam University academic is set to tackle a national shortage of therapy radiographers treating cancer patients after receiving an award to research how more can be recruited and retained.
There has been a national shortage of therapy radiographers for the past seven years, leading to higher waiting times for cancer sufferers.
More than one in three student therapy radiographers drop out of their degree courses in this country, but in Canada only four per cent fail to graduate.
Joanna McNamara, a senior lecturer in Sheffield Hallam's radiotherapy team, will visit Higher Education Institutes and clinical Radiotherapy departments in Canada after receiving a four-figure travelling fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust.
She will share expertise and best practice before returning to embark on a research project investigating the recruitment and retainment of student therapy radiographers in the UK.
Joanna said: "Sheffield Hallam is at the forefront of training therapy radiographers in the UK and has a better attrition rate than the national average but there is much we can learn so more students can be retained and recruited.
"The NHS has called for the provision of further radiotherapy satellite centres by 2016 and this will mean a further shortage in trained therapy radiographers, impacting on the waiting times for cancer patients.
"In Canada, there is a very high academic standard and students rarely drop out, whereas in the UK many fail to complete due to the demanding nature of the course and its combination of clinical and technical training, although there has been no official research into the reasons why attrition rates are so high.
"Nearly 50 per cent of cancer patients need radiotherapy care and there has never been a more challenging time for the profession. My visit and subsequent research should shed valuable light on how to overcome some of the immediate hurdles in retaining and recruiting therapy radiographers of the highest calibre."
Sheffield Hallam is the largest provider of radiotherapy education in the UK and has a virtualisation and planning suite which is used in all teaching programmes. The university currently offers two undergraduate courses, a three-year BSc (Hons) degree and a two-year postgraduate degree in Radiotherapy and Oncology.
For press information:Laurie Harvey on 0114 225 2621 or email laurie.harvey@shu.ac.uk
