Proton Beam Therapy - elearning for healthcare
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This programme is in partnership with...
  • Royal College of Radiologists
  • Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine
  • College of Radiographers

About the eProton programme

The Proton Beam Therapy (eProton) programme is a web-based elearning resource produced in partnership with The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR), the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM), College of Radiographers (CoR) and Health Education England elearning for healthcare (HEE elfh).

eProton offers useful background and general awareness of proton beam therapy (PBT) for all staff groups working in NHS radiotherapy and related services, especially for those in referral or support centres. This includes clinical oncologists, medical physicists, therapy radiographers and dosimetrists. Other audiences may include professionals working in related services e.g. medical and surgical oncologists, radiologists, clinical engineers, play specialists, specialist nurses and other allied health professionals.

Topics covered include the history of PBT, clinical indications and side effects, physical characteristics and generation of proton beams, treatment planning and delivery, radiation protection, along with the multi-disciplinary patient pathway.

Each elearning session contains interactive content which delivers the educational objectives using a variety of techniques, including animations and video.

More information

Proton beam therapy is a type of radiotherapy delivered with high energy protons as opposed to the photons (x-rays) used in conventional radiotherapy. The use of protons can enable dose escalation for certain tumours to increase the chance of cure without exceeding acceptable doses to nearby normal tissues. For other tumours which do not need higher doses than with photons, protons can allow a reduction in dose to normal tissues and therefore in late (permanent) side effects of treatment.

A lower energy proton radiotherapy service for eye tumours has been delivered at Clatterbridge Cancer Centre since 1989. From 2008, NHS patients with other selected indications that were believed most likely to benefit from PBT were treated overseas in USA and Europe. These included many indications in children and young adults, as well as highly complex skull base, head and neck cancers and sarcomas, often very close to critical normal tissues. However, these adult and paediatric NHS patients are now treated at one of two major UK PBT centres, located at the Christie Hospital in Manchester (opened in 2018) and at University College Hospital in London (opened in 2021). Some private provision of PBT is also available.

Meet the team

  • Gillian Whitfield

    Gillian Whitfield

    eProton Clinical Lead
  • David Eaton

    David Eaton

    Chair of the Radiotherapy Special Interest Group (SIG) at IPEM
  • Anna Campbell

    Training Policy and Projects Manager, The Royal College of Radiologists (RCR)
  • Martin Sinclair

    Martin Sinclair

    Programme Lead, HEE elearning for healthcare
  • elfh-staff-Neha-Baj-learning-profile

    Neha Baj

    Content Development Lead, HEE elearning for healthcare
  • Jasmine Deol

    Jasmine Deol

    Lead Learning Designer and Project Manager, HEE elearning for healthcare

Authors

  • Gillian Whitfield

    Gillian Whitfield

    eProton Clinical Lead
  • Roger Taylor

    Roger Taylor

    Professor of Clinical Oncology, Swansea University
  • David Eaton

    David Eaton

    Chair of the Radiotherapy Special Interest Group (SIG) at IPEM
  • Adam Aitkenhead

    Adam Aitkenhead

    Principal Clinical Scientist
  • David Lines

    David Lines

    Principal Clinical Scientist
  • Mark Hardy

    Mark Hardy

    Radiation Protection Advisor for Radiotherapy
  • Hazel Pennington

    Hazel Pennington

    Lead Radiographer on the Proton Beam Therapy Project at The Christie, Manchester
  • Kevin Sullivan

    Kevin Sullivan

    Head of Cancer Operations, UCLH
  • Laura Allington

    Laura Allington

    Operational Lead for Proton Beam Therapy, UCLH
  • Rovel Colaco

    Rovel Colaco

    Consultant Clinical Oncologist

Other contributors

We would also like to thank the following individuals for providing images, video clips and support for the project:

  • Anna Campbell and Dr S Ramkumar – Royal College of Radiologists (RCR)
  • Spencer Goodman – Society of Radiographers (CoR)
  • Kathryn Surtees – Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine (IPEM)
  • Laura Allington – University College London Hospitals (UCLH)
  • Jenny Son – Varian Medical Systems, for providing images and video clips for the programme including the image on this page
  • Danny Indelicato – The University of Florida Proton Therapy Institute
  • Louise Boyle – National Proton Beam Therapy Service Development Programme, NHS England
  • Richard Amos – Associate Professor of Proton Therapy Research Lead for Clinical Proton Therapy Physics, University College London Hospitals (UCLH)
  • William Hanson – Varian Medical Systems
  • Damon Kirk – QFix

How to access

In order to access the Proton Beam Therapy (eProton) programme, you will need an elfh account. If you do not have one, then you can register by selecting the Register button below.

Register >

To view the Proton Beam Therapy (eProton) programme, select the View button below. If you already have an account with elfh, you will also be able to login and enrol on the programme from the View button.

View >

If you have already enrolled onto the Advanced Radiotherapy (ART) programme, you will also be able to access the eProton sessions via this programme.

NHS healthcare staff in England

The Proton Beam Therapy (eProton) programme is also available to NHS healthcare staff via the Electronic Staff Record (ESR). Accessing this elearning via ESR means that your completions will transfer with you throughout your NHS career.

Further details are available here.

Not an NHS organisation?

If you are not an NHS health or care organisation and therefore do not qualify for free access elfh Hub, you may be able to access the service by creating an OpenAthens account.

To check whether or not you qualify for free access via OpenAthens, you can view the eligibility criteria and register on the ‘OpenAthens’ portal.

Registering large numbers of users

If you are a HR, IT or Practice Manager and would like to register and enrol large numbers of staff within your organisation for access onto the Proton Beam Therapy (eProton) programme, please contact elfh directly.

Organisations wishing to use their own LMS

For HR departments wanting to know more about gaining access to courses using an existing Learning Management System please contact elfh directly to express interest.

More information

Please select the following link for more information on how to use the elfh Hub.

elfh is a NHS England programme in partnership with the NHS and professional bodies