Clinical audits in radiotherapy: advancing quality through collaboration and expertise

On 5 June 2026, during the 21st National Congress of the Spanish Society of Radiation Oncology (SEOR), Dr. Gemma Sancho participated in the roundtable discussion "External Audits: Obligation or Opportunity?", alongside Dr. Gustavo Ossola and Dr. Josep Pardo.

The session explored three key topics related to clinical audits in radiotherapy:

• Who should perform external clinical audits? Pros and cons.
• An overview of the QUATRO methodology.
• Should SEOR establish a pool of trained and validated clinical auditors?

In her presentation, Dr. Sancho emphasized that the success of a clinical audit in radiotherapy relies on the thorough preparation of all stakeholders involved: the audited centre, the audit team, and the organization sponsoring the audit. She highlighted that audit teams should be multidisciplinary and composed primarily of experienced radiotherapy professionals with expertise across all areas being evaluated, as well as a solid understanding of audit methodologies.

Dr. Sancho also presented the progress of the CAT-ClinART project, which continues to promote the implementation of clinical audits in radiotherapy. As part of this initiative, a dedicated training course on clinical audits was launched more than a year ago for consortium members and opened to external participants, with the aim of building capacity and preparing future clinical auditors.

Referring to the Quadrant project, she stressed the importance of establishing a national clinical audit body that works closely with professional and scientific societies, health authorities, European and international organizations, and patient associations. Such collaboration would help ensure a harmonized, independent, and sustainable approach to clinical audits, ultimately contributing to continuous quality improvement in radiotherapy.

The session concluded with an engaging discussion and an interactive audience poll conducted via QR code, asking:

Who should perform clinical audits in radiotherapy?

Results:

• Healthcare professionals from other hospitals, appropriately trained and acting as peer auditors: 54.55%
• Ministry of Health staff: 27.27%
• Accredited external auditors: 18.18%

The poll highlighted strong support for a peer-review model, where trained professionals from different hospitals conduct clinical audits. This approach reinforces the value of collaboration, shared learning, and continuous quality improvement to enhance patient care in radiotherapy.