Radiotherapy
GIRFT’s radiotherapy workstream supports delivery of NHS England’s ambition to achieve a national 85% target for 62-day cancer performance, specifically addressing delays in radiotherapy services, which can be a constraint at the 31-day treatment stage of the pathway.
GIRFT has highlighted the need for a more consistent and sustainable approach to radiotherapy delivery across capital, productivity, pathways, workforce, demand and capacity planning, digital innovation and governance.
Phase 1 of the new workstream is providing targeted face-to-face support with six providers, with a focus on actions to improve waiting time performance in the short term.
Phase 2 will begin in 2027, broadening the approach to a national programme of radiotherapy deep dives across all 52 radiotherapy providers in England at radiotherapy Operational Delivery Network (ODN) level, to identify unwarranted variation, share best practice and develop practical recommendations for sustainable improvement.
- Radiotherapy Joint Clinical Leads
Dr John Frew
Radiotherapy joint clinical lead
Dr John Frew is a consultant clinical oncologist at The Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. He specialises in the treatment of urological cancers and lymphoma, with a particular focus on radiotherapy.
Over the past 15 years, Dr Frew has played a key role in the development and advancement of radiotherapy services across Newcastle and the wider Northern region. He has led numerous initiatives to improve patient access to high-quality cancer treatment and has been actively involved in clinical research, service development and regional collaboration.
Dr Frew’s leadership roles include serving as radiotherapy clinical trials lead for Newcastle (2012-2017), head of radiotherapy at Newcastle (2017-2020), and clinical lead for the Northern Radiotherapy Network (2020-2026). Since 2023, he has been a member of the National Radiotherapy Clinical Reference Group and serves as senior medical editor for Macmillan Cancer Support.
Through his clinical practice, leadership and contributions to national cancer services, Dr Frew continues to support the development of evidence-based radiotherapy and improve outcomes for patients with cancer across the UK.
Dr Orla Houlihan
Radiotherapy joint clinical lead
Dr Orla Houlihan is a consultant clinical oncologist at Somerset NHS Foundation Trust, specialising in the treatment of genitourinary and gynaecological malignancies with radiotherapy.
She graduated with first class honours from University College Cork in Ireland. Following postgraduate training in general internal medicine – during which time she acquired membership of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians of the United Kingdom – she completed higher specialist training in radiation oncology in Ireland. She is also a fellow of the Faculty of Radiologists and Radiation Oncologists, part of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Dr Houlihan subsequently completed a clinical research fellowship at Queen’s University Belfast and Belfast City Hospital, primarily focused on exploring the role of in vivo dosimetry in pelvic brachytherapy and stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy. She was awarded a philosophy doctorate from Queen’s University Belfast in recognition of research completed as part of this fellowship.
Dr Houlihan has a keen interest in teaching and professional development. In addition to her PhD in medicine, she has completed a professional certificate in healthcare management practice, a postgraduate diploma in medical education, and a masters in public health.
She has multiple international research publications and serves as a reviewer for Clinical Oncology Journal.
- Radiotherapy Clinical Advisors
Dr Martyn Gilmore
Radiotherapy clinical advisor
Dr Martyn Gilmore is lead consultant clinical scientist for radiotherapy at The Clatterbridge Cancer Centre NHS Foundation Trust. He has more than 15 years of experience as a clinical scientist and was first appointed as a medical physics expert (MPE) in 2014.
With a background in stereotactic radiosurgery, small field dosimetry and treatment planning, he has a particular interest in radiotherapy quality, safety and risk management.
Martyn was part of the first cohort of Higher Specialist Scientist Training (HSST) and completed the programme in 2020, with a doctoral thesis focused on risk management and quality improvement within complex radiotherapy pathways.
He has contributed to several IPEM working groups, national radiotherapy guidance and professional assessments for the National School of Healthcare Science.
Martyn is an Honorary Fellow of the University of Liverpool, where he supervises MSc students and leads a postgraduate module on radiation generators within the medical physics scientific training programme.
Clare Hartill
Radiotherapy clinical advisor
Clare Hartill is a therapeutic radiographer with more than 28 years’ experience in NHS radiotherapy services.
She began her career at University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Trust before working at The Royal Marsden Hospital, Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and The Royal Free London.
Clare spent 11 years as lead research and development radiographer at GSTT, leading translational research and the radiotherapy clinical trials team. She led the clinical implementation of innovative techniques, including SABR for primary lung cancer, VMAT, SGRT, 3/4D CBCT, breath-hold techniques and radiographer-led fiducial marker insertion. She also established the rectal spacer service for prostate radiotherapy and led the NHS England SABR Commissioning Through Evaluation programme.
Appointed head of radiotherapy at The Royal Free in 2019, Clare leads the operational and strategic development of the service, with a focus on workforce, performance, capacity and service improvement.
Since 2024, she has been clinical lead for the North and East London Radiotherapy Network, supporting collaboration, innovation and sharing of best practice across six radiotherapy providers.
Clare Hutton
Radiotherapy clinical advisor
Clare Hutton is a therapeutic radiographer with more than 25 years’ experience within radiotherapy.
For the past 11 years Clare has been the radiotherapy manager at the NHS Humber Health Partnership. Clare has extensive knowledge and experience relating to operational leadership, workforce transformation, quality improvement and service development across radiotherapy services.
With a particular interest in workforce planning, service sustainability and delivery of evidence based best practice, Clare has led a number of service improvement, recovery and transformation programmes. She is passionate about supporting the development of the radiotherapy workforce and ensuring patients have equitable access to high-quality cancer treatment and care.
In addition to her leadership role within the NHS Humber Health Partnership, Clare is vice chair of the Radiotherapy Service Managers Group and a member of the College of Radiographers’ Radiotherapy Advisory Group. As a result of these roles, she contributes to the development of national initiatives focused on workforce development, quality improvement, benchmarking and the future sustainability of radiotherapy services across the NHS.
Find out more about GIRFT’s data-led approach and best practice resources:
- Radiotherapy News
Radiotherapy Academy Resources
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