The main purpose of the Radiotherapy waiting times data set specification (RWT DSS) is to describe the information that must be collected to calculate the waiting times for the following time period in the treatment pathway for radiotherapy services in Australia: 

  • The time between the patient's ready-for-care date and the date of the first megavoltage external beam radiotherapy treatment.
Collection details

Temporal coverage

from 1/7/2013 to 30/6/2015

Geographical coverage

National and state

Data availability

  • Publications;
  • Client specified tables on request which may be subject to data provider approval (charges apply);
  • Restricted unit record access subject to Ethics Committee approval and/or the agreement of all relevant data custodians in all states and territories (charges may apply).

Data scope

Establishments in scope are those healthcare establishments that provide megavoltage external beam radiotherapy treatment (in-scope radiotherapy treatment). Both public and private establishments are in scope. While it is mandatory for public establishments to report data to the collection, private providers are also encouraged to participate

The scope is not limited by patient diagnosis: it includes people with cancer (notifiable and non-notifiable) and people who do not have cancer. People in scope are those who started a course of radiotherapy treatment within the reference period.

For public establishments, all in-scope activity should be reported, including services provided by specialists operating under right of private practice arrangements.

Methodology

Admin data

Metadata information and data quality statement (DQS)

RWT DSS 2013-15

External links and information 

Radiotherapy in Australia: report on a pilot data collection 2013–14

Radiotherapy in Australia: report on the second year of a pilot collection  2014–15

Contact

[email protected]