Hundreds of our staff have been showcasing our Cancer and Clinical Support (CCS) services, including demonstrations of how artificial intelligence (AI) is helping patients start their treatment sooner.

The CCS Congress at Queen’s Hospital saw around 50 departments, including Pharmacy Production, Infection Control, Chaplaincy and Radiotherapy, show how they work with different wards and departments across our Trust.

Trainee Clinical Scientist Nabihah Rahman (pictured above left) from the Radiotherapy Physics team explained how AI is able to perform tasks quicker and reduce the workload for our oncologists.

When patients undergo radiotherapy treatment, they have a CT scan on which their treatment is planned.

An oncologist needs to outline target area for treatment and nearby organs at risk that need to be protected from radiation.

This is done by an AI tool and then checked by an oncologist and edited if needed. This takes less time than it would take for the oncologist to do it from scratch.

The Radiotherapy Physics team uses this to create treatment plans for patients, so they get the optimal dose of radiation in the tumour while minimising the dose to healthy tissue.

Nabihah said: 

This tool really speeds up the process – you wouldn’t realise it goes on behind the scenes but it makes a massive difference to patient care.

Clinical Nurse Specialists Joy Bowers and Karlene Birthwright (pictured above) from our sickle cell and thalassaemia service attended to showcase how they’re treating patients.

Sickle cell disease is a lifelong condition where blood cells are produced in unusual shapes. These cells can clot easily and cause pain. Patients need regular blood transfusions every few weeks to reduce the amount of sickle cells in their blood.

Thalassemia is another lifelong condition where the body doesn’t produce enough haemoglobin or in some cases any at all.

Haemoglobin is used to carry oxygen around the body. Patients receive specialist treatment from a blood transfusion machine.

Joy said:

I’ve really enjoyed sharing what our service does and learning about other services that I wasn’t even aware existed. Hopefully the congress runs again next year!

 Our Pharmacy Production team is pictured above.