Descriptive Study to Evaluate the Care Process and the Quality of Care for Adult Cancer Patients Who Are Admitted for Colorectal Cancer Surgery.

This descriptive study uses an interrupted time series approach combining a retrospective with a prospective multicenter design to evaluate the current state of the care process for adult colorectal cancer patients who are admitted for surgery. This study will give attention to evidence based key interventions, follow-up and interprofessional teamwork necessary to provide appropriate care. In 4 countries (Belgium, Germany, France and The Netherlands) 3 hospitals will participate (total number of hospitals is 12). They will perform a clinical audit of the actual organization of the care process, and a team audit on the level of interprofessional teamwork. Each team will develop and implement a quality improvement initiative based on the concept of care pathways, the findings from the audit and the available evidence, and will measure the effect of their improvement strategy.