FIVE YEARS OF OPERATION EXPERIENCE AT HIT

Since spring 2007 the HIT company, a 100% daughter of the Heidelberg University Hospital, has taken over the responsibility for the operation of the first dedicated European ion beam tumour therapy facility. In 2009 the clinical operation started and since then more than 800 patients were treated in the facility. This success is based on a well-trained and highly-motivated team of physicists, engineers and technicians responsible for the 24/7 operation scheme as well as for more than 70% of the accelerator maintenance. The paper will give an overview of the operation organization reflecting the overall beam time schedule. In addition, the accelerator statistics will prove the achieved high availability of about 98% besides planned maintenance time. Furthermore, the reliability of the HIT accelerator including the gantry section will be illustrated resulting in long intervals before necessary retuning. At last, some examples of the continuous improvement process will be presented. THE HIT FACILITY – A SHORT OVERVIEW