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 July 2013 to 30 June 2015

Geographical coverage

National and state and territory 

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 public and private healthcare establishments that provide megavoltage external beam radiotherapy treatment (in-scope radiotherapy treatment).

Public establishments must report in-scope activity, including services provided by specialists operating under right of private practice arrangements. Private providers are encouraged to participate.

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

Methodology

Admin data

Metadata information and data quality statement (DQS)

Radiotherapy waiting times 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

hpis@aihw.gov.au