On 28-29 September, the EU-JUST-CT project held an important hybrid workshop to discuss how to improve the justification of computed tomography in the EU. The central aim of the workshop was to share the results of the audits of CT justification in seven European countries. The workshop also included a discussion on a guidance document to improve justification of CT examinations in radiology departments.
The event, which was held over 1.5 days, was an opportunity for representatives of national radiology societies, national radiation protection authorities, national health authorities, health professionals and patient representatives from various EU member states to learn more about the EU-JUST-CT project and the state of play of justification of CT examinations in the EU.
The results of the audit act as an important landmark marking the first time that the same methodology for auditing justification of CT examinations has been used simultaneously in seven EU countries with the ESR iGuide clinical decision support as a reference standard. This effort was characterised by a multidisciplinary team approach, with excellent collaboration between national radiology societies, national competent authorities and hospitals of the countries involved.
The hope is that the results will inspire other member states to carry out audits on their CT justification using the methodology employed within the EU-JUST-CT project. The common methodology for auditing justification of CT examinations that has been developed as part of the project is freely available on the EU-JUST-CT website for this purpose.
Leader of the project, and former ESR President, Prof. Boris Brkljačić was very pleased with the event. “The results presented at the very successful workshop in Luxembourg to the representatives of the European Commission, national competent authorities and national health authorities have demonstrated great diversity in Europe and I hope that when the project finishes and a final report is produced the results will enhance activities on clinical audit, improve justification of CT and advance considerably the quality of medical care for European patients. The project is very complex and I am grateful to the co-lead Alexandra Karoussou-Schreiner (Luxembourg Ministry of Health), to all consortium members, national competent authorities chairs and national societies representatives of seven countries, statisticians from the Gertner Institute in Israel, the auditors who audited over 6,400 referrals, and the ESR office.”
The EU-JUST-CT (European co-ordinated action on improving justification of computed tomography) project is a European Commission-funded project coordinated by the ESR. The general objective of the project is to improve the justification of computed tomography in the EU through the development and implementation of a common approach, methodology and co-ordinated action in this area among Member States. The work is part of the SAMIRA Action Plan, a key element of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan and closely related to recent work on clinical audit e.g. the QuADRANT study.
The presentations shown during the workshop are available on the EU-JUST-CT project’s website for a limited period of time. A publication in the European Commission Radiation Protection Series will round up the project.
