Radiotherapy UK is delighted to warmly welcome six new members to our Board of Trustees. Over the coming years their broad range of skills will drive the work of the charity forward as we fight for fair access to vital cancer treatment, advocate for the radiotherapy workforce, and develop our resources for patients and their loved ones.
Andy Beavis is the Head of Medical Physics for the Humberside Trusts. Having worked in Radiotherapy for 32 years, he is still extremely active in research and clinical development with a view to improving radiotherapy. He has a passion for ensuring that new technology gets quickly (and safely) adopted into clinical practice in our war on cancer. Andy’s interest in providing high quality education led to his inventing the VERT system which has become an accepted standard for training Therapy Radiographers and is used in nearly 40 countries across the world.
Following 32 years of contributing to the development of new techniques and watching the evolution of Radiotherapy, I remain absolutely convinced that we are not done yet and in combination with better imaging techniques, multi-modality treatments and developing the ‘Adaptive’ phase of Radiotherapy, we can achieve far more successes. However, as a profession we remain the ‘little sibling’ and do not get the attention, funding and the same opportunities as our colleagues to achieve our goals.
Victoria Chapman is an Advanced Dosimetry Therapeutic Radiographer with 17 years’ experience in Radiotherapy and 13 in planning: working at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre. Victoria has an MSc in Radiotherapy Planning and is interested in the development of AI processes, specifically within radiotherapy planning, which aids the workforce whilst being beneficial to patient care, experience and outcomes. As well as the future development of the radiographer role in Radiotherapy, a role that is fast changing and requires constant evolvement, Victoria has volunteered with a number of voluntary organisations over the last 20 years; a children’s charity, Girl Guiding and a sustainability community group.
I wanted to join the Board of Radiotherapy UK as the work being done to raise the profile of radiotherapy is vitally important. Few people know about this treatment or understand what it is, but Radiotherapy UK has given a voice to radiotherapy. The challenges that are currently seen within radiotherapy can be eased by raising its profile: which is necessary to help drive development, the workforce and awareness for patients. This is essential in the fight against cancer. I look forward to being part of the change for radiotherapy and part of the voice to drive the change.
Dr Clare Hague is a Health Economist and Founder of Oncology Access Solutions Ltd; a global consulting company that advises pharmaceutical companies on their market access strategies for cancer medicines under development. Prior to 2023, she had spent 18 years within the pharmaceutical industry specializing in the health technology assessment of cancer medicines, outcomes research, real-world evidence, and value-based healthcare. She holds an LLM in Healthcare Ethics & Law, a PhD in Health Economics, and a BA (Hons) International Business. Prior to working in the pharmaceutical industry, Clare spent 4 years as an MRC Senior Research Fellow at the University of Sheffield and 6 years working as a health services researcher within the NHS.
RTUK works tirelessly to promote access to appropriate cancer treatment without delay, with patients at the heart of everything that they do. Patients have a right to be given the best chance of surviving a cancer diagnosis and radiotherapy is a cost-effective treatment option that is not always prioritized. RTUK does so much in putting cancer at the top of the political agenda in raising awareness of the detrimental impact on patients through the cancer backlog, and I am delighted and honoured to be able to support this very worthy organisation through joining their Board.
Samina Hussain is Radiotherapy Service Manager at The Harley Street Clinic; and a qualified therapeutic radiographer with advanced all-round knowledge and a vast amount of clinical experience spanning nearly three decades. Samina is a trustee for breast cancer charity, Sakoon Through Cancer, which provides culturally appropriate and tailored support for South Asian Women. She is also an Equalities Observer for the Society of Radiographers College and Board of Trustees and passionate about patient care, equality diversity and inclusion, and helping to support, develop and nurture the future workforce by creating psychological safety in the workplace, raising awareness of and challenging underlying biases to build and manage high-performing, resilient teams.
As a Therapeutic Radiographer working in the NHS and private sectors during my career, I have witnessed many changes in the diagnosis and treatment of cancer patients. I have watched the statistics double over the past 30 years, with 1 in 2 people getting a cancer in their lifetime, and would love to be a part of the work Radiotherapy UK is doing to ensure every patient receives the best treatment and chance of survival regardless of who they are and where they live.
Adele Lyons has devoted her career to radiotherapy, starting as a therapeutic radiographer in Leeds. From there, Adele moved into industry and travelled the world, witnessing best practice and technology in action. Taking this experience, Adele then sought to support customers in the UK and Ireland implement the most advanced technologies introduced to the market at the earliest opportunity. Her experience and knowledge of the international market and procurement processes in the UK will be of huge benefit to the work of Radiotherapy UK.
I wanted to be part of RTUK as I am passionate about raising the profile of Radiotherapy as a cost effective and super effective treatment for cancer patients. Radiotherapy is underutilised in the UK and not all patients have access to the most effective treatments available. This is not right and I would like to have an impact to resolve this.
Andy Tudor had surgery for a large brain tumour in 2017, and stereotactic radiotherapy in 2022 to treat reocurrence. He is currently all clear, though dealing with the many after-effects of treatments. Andy is a volunteer for multiple related charities, providing a patient’s lived-with perspective. In 2023 he won The Brain Tumour Charity’s Volunteer of the Year Award a Special Commendation in the Volunteer of the Year category of the 2023 UK Charity (Third Sector) Awards. Andy is an active member of Radiotherapy UK’s 2023 Patient Engagement Group, helped write and create a voiceover for our patient video on Gamma Knife Radiotherapy, and was a guest speaker at the Westminster launch of World-class Radiotherapy in the UK: Right Patient, Right Treatment, Right Time.
I want to make a difference to both the quality and quantity of radiotherapy treatment options for all cancer patients; and to ensure the patient voice is front and centre of any discussions on how we make this happen.
