The Group held its most recent meeting in Bournville in advance of the radiopharmacy workshop. Items of general interest are summarised below.
Education and Certification of Radiopharmaceutical Scientists The radiopharmacy component of the National Occupational Standards for Health Care Scientists (NOSHCS), which are being prepared for the Department of Health, is now ready for field testing. Some of you may have been involved in the recent field testing of the nuclear medicine component. The objectives are to ensure that the terminology is understandable, that the standards reflect actual practice, and to assign the grade of staff competent for each function. The goal is to have all specialty functions in place by May 2004.
There has been further discussion of a continuing professional development (CPD) framework for radiopharmaceutical scientists. The most promising option at the moment involves the College of Pharmacy Practice, where we would be grouped with other specialties in a TSET-like faculty, there being an insufficient number of radiopharmaceutical scientists to constitute a separate faculty. However, this will require that the college recognise non-pharmacists, which is under consideration. A feasibility study is to be completed within one year, with establishment to follow within a further year if it is found to be feasible.
Radiopharmacy Software Packages A subgroup of UKRG, together with Professor Peter Jarritt, have met with the software company Atalanta regarding the design and development a radiopharmacy software package suitable for the UK regulatory environment. Atalanta is now requesting a financial commitment from at least 20 partners within the NHS. The full cost would be £2000 with an initial deposit of £500. For further information please contact Sean Blencowe of Atalanta (sean.blencowe@atalanta-consulting.co.uk). In order to see the detailed document it is necessary to sign a non-disclosure agreement.
Bright Technologies is working with Veenstra on a new version of their software more suited to the UK environment. Input from the radiopharmacy community will be sought in the near future. Contact Stephen Anderson (stephen@bright.fsnet.co.uk).
Thames Radiopharmacy Group The next meeting of the Thames Radiopharmacy Group is scheduled for the afternoon of 18 February at the Royal Free Hospital. Following a buffet lunch there will be an informal discussion and problem-sharing session. For information and/or registration contact Jilly (Hepplewhite) Croasdale: phone 020 7830 2474, Jilly.Croasdale@royalfree.nhs.uk. The UKRG offers congratulations to Jilly on her recent marriage.
Radiopharmacy Workshop 2003 The UKRG workshop was held 16-17 January in Bournville and attracted a good audience. The two-day workshop entitled "Introduction to PET and PET Radiopharmaceuticals" addressed radionuclides and their production, radiopharmaceutical preparation, radiation protection, imaging equipment, and clinical and research applications of PET. It had been hoped that the workshop would reach a broader audience than it did, but it may be repeated later this year in combination with a clinical PET workshop similar to that held in Bristol last year.
Reports of Problems Associated with Radiopharmaceuticals The latest tabulation should be included with this Newsletter. These reports are now available electronically and will be posted on the UKRG web site in the near future. It is also intended that problem reporting will be part of the Virtual Radiopharmacy electronic community (www.virrad.org) later this year, which would offer the advantage of a searchable database. Keep an eye out for it.
Education and Training The Postgraduate Course in Radiopharmacy is being offered at King's College London during the week commencing 7 April. The course outline and registration form are available on the UKRG web site under "Education and Training".
The Pharmaceutical Technology and Quality Assurance (PTQA) one-week course on pharmaceutical isolators is being offered twice in the coming months at the University of Leeds. Contact information is also available on the UKRG web site.
Upcoming meetings include the 11th European Symposium on Radiopharmacy and Radiopharmaceuticals, to be held in Innsbruck, Austria from 15-18 March (links available from EANM web site, www.eanm.org) and the annual meeting of the British Nuclear Medicine Society in Manchester, 29 April-1 May (www.bnms.org.uk).
Positron Emission Tomography On 30 October the Health Technology Board of NHS-Scotland published its revised assessment of the use of PET in cancer management. It concluded that FDG-PET should be used to re-stage patients with Hodgkin's disease at completion of first-line induction therapy in order to select those for surveillance or radical radiotherapy. Evaluation of cost effectiveness in non-small cell lung cancer will require further research. It recommended that a clinical PET facility be established in Scotland as soon as possible. There are expected to be trickle-down effects south of Hadrian's wall (NICE, are you listening?). The detailed report and a summary are available at www.htbs.org.uk.
Note from the Editor The editor, Jim Ballinger, Nuclear Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ, phone 01223 217351, fax 01223 274596, e-mail jim.ballinger@addenbrookes.nhs.uk, welcomes any communications that cross the barriers of time and space (and the snow-bound cars on the M11) to reach the wilds of East Anglia!
A SAD COMMENTARY: A recent query posted on the PETMAIL newsgroup asked how commercial PET centres in the USA are dealing with increasing requests for PET scans, particularly in Alzheimer's disease (which is now being promoted by Charlton Heston). It elicited the following reply which is a sad commentary on private health care: "We have a cash rate, and offer financing for those indications that are not covered by Medicare and/or private pay. This seems to be working out very well. One of the doctors in this area who specializes in this field especially embraces this, as he has found that it is frequently the children who are wanting the PET scan for their parent."
HAPPY RETIREMENT, COLIN! On a happier note, the UKRG offers its best wishes to Dr Colin Lazarus who recently retired after some 27 years at Guy's Hospital. Colin is one of the original six members of the Regional Radiopharmacists Subcommittee who held their inaugural meeting at a now-forgotten pub in Cambridgeshire on 26 January 1977. A dinner in Colin's honour was held in Birmingham during the Bournville meeting.