From reporting incidents in a radiation therapy department to enterprise risk management (ERM) based on the European Foundation for Quality Management philosophy (EFQM)

Abstract

The radiation therapy department (RTD) initiated in 2009 a policy of open and transparent reporting of events not harming (near incidents) and potentially harming patients (incidents and accidents). This approach was immediately followed by the leader's decision to engage towards the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) excellence model. The EFQM approach structured the journey of the RTD to enterprise risk management. We intend to demonstrate in the five main fields of the EFQM approach (leadership, policy and strategy, people/personnel, partnership and resources, processes), how the journey to continuous improvement in quality and safety did evolve and was accelerated in RTD. The assessment made by external evaluators evolved from a minimum of 90 points (basic requirement for level 1 in 2009) to a at least 180 points (basic requirement for level 2 in 2011), to reach 400 points in 2013 (270 required for level 3 and 450 required for level 4).