Dosimeters not worn, non-regulatory operating theaters, poorly trained professionals… La Timone hospital (Marseille) has accumulated radiation protection faults.
“Big breaches” of radiation protection rules. The Nuclear Safety Agency (ASN) pinpoints the Timone hospital (Marseille, Bouches-du-Rhône) in a report from November 2. After an inspection on October 12, radiation protection experts pointed to numerous flaws in the training of health professionals and in the protection of patients. The operating theaters visited by ASN were put into service in November 2013. But in two years of existence, major faults have persisted.
A glaring lack of training
“There is a real lack of appropriation of the radiation protection culture within the operating theaters at the Timone hospital,” the report stresses. Non-compliance with major points, fundamental pillars of radiation protection for workers and patients, was noted by the inspectors. “
First major flaw: the staff of the Timone is poorly trained in wearing passive or operational dosimetry. These devices measure the level of exposure to ionizing rays. But they are worn irregularly, if ever, by workers. The latter would not even know the difference between the two models. A passive dosimeter assumes a delayed reading, in a laboratory, while an operational dosimeter is electronic and allows immediate analysis of exposure.
Poorly protected patients
Training is precisely at the heart of the shortcomings pointed out by ASN. “Very few (of the professionals in the OR) are trained to date”, underlines the ASN, whereas it is obligatory. Result: surgeons do not always wear their protective glasses, personal protective equipment often remains in the closet, information on the dose received by the patient may be omitted from the report of medical acts.
As the report states, “no medical personnel using X-ray generators have validated the radiation protection training of patients. This last element has only been accessible to staff since 2015, and not all blocks comply with the law.
With the report, ASN attaches a list of requests for improvements. The vast majority concerns compliance with radiation protection rules (wearing dosimetry and protective equipment, environmental controls, report, etc.). According to the Medical News Agency (APM), the management of the CHU de la Timone announced the deployment of a training plan for doctors and an action plan. 70 doctors are expected to be trained in the coming weeks.
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