Patient safety in radiotherapy : human factors and error prevention systems

Žarkovič, Lara (author), Zupan, Iza (author), Hankić, Larisa (author), Žager Marciuš, Valerija (author), Gošnak Dahmane, Raja (author)

Radiotherapy is a cornerstone of modern cancer treatment, offering high precision in tumor targeting while minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissues. Due to the use of high-energy ionizing radiation and highly complex planning and delivery workflows, patient safety represents a critical aspect of radiotherapy practice. This review provides an overview of patient safety in radiotherapy with a particular focus on human factors, sources of error, and system-based error prevention strategies. A narrative literature review was conducted using peer-reviewed articles, international guidelines, and reports on incident learning systems and quality assurance in external beam radiotherapy. The radiotherapy process consists of multiple interdependent stages, including simulation, target delineation, treatment planning, verification, and treatment delivery, each of which carries specific safety risks. Evidence shows that most radiotherapy incidents arise from human and organizational factors such as communication failures, workload, inadequate supervision, and system design issues rather than isolated technical faults. Quality assurance programs, incident reporting systems, patient safety indicators, and international frameworks such as Safety in Radiation Oncology (SAFRON) represent key mechanisms for preventing errors. The integration of technical quality assurance with a strong safety culture and attention to human factors is essential for reducing risk and improving patient outcomes. A system-based approach that emphasizes learning, supervision, and continuous improvement is crucial for maintaining safe radiotherapy practice as treatment technologies continue to evolve.

• Language: English
• Keywords: radiotherapy, patient safety, human factors, quality assurance, incident learning systems, safety culture
• Work type: Scientific work
• Typology: 1.08 - Published Scientific Conference Contribution
• Organization: ZF - Faculty of Health Sciences
• Publication status: Published
• Publication version: Version of Record
• Year: 2026
• Number of pages: Str. 25-31
• PID: 20.500.12556/RUL-185697
• UDC: 616-07
• DOI: 10.55295/PSL.14.2026.I4
• COBISS.SI-ID: 288051459
• Publication date in RUL: 18.08.2026

Record is a part of a monograph

• Title: Proceedings of Socratic Lectures : 14th international symposium, Ljubljana, April 17, 2026, Breast cancer
• Editors: Veronika Kralj-Iglič, Yelena Istileulova, Anna Romolo
• Place of publishing: Ljubljana
• Publisher: University of Ljubljana Press
• Year: 2026
• ISBN: 978-961-297-859-4
• COBISS.SI-ID: 283502339

Licences

• License: CC BY 4.0, Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International
• Link: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• Description: This is the standard Creative Commons license that gives others maximum freedom to do what they want with the work as long as they credit the author.