The management of rectal cancer in Belgium : a survey of our practice

In 1995, a Peer Review Commission Radiotherapy was installed at the initiative of the Belgian Ministry of Health as part of a larger pilot project on quality assur- ance. This commission was composed of 14 members, 8 radiation oncologists (appointed by the Belgian Association of Radiation Oncology) and 6 physicists (appointed by the Belgian Association of Hospital Physicists). Peer review is only one of the activities within the Quality control of the medical performance aiming to improve quality in diagnostic and therapeutic procedures (1). Other activities in Quality assurance are development of standards and guidelines, continuous education and measurements of the treatment process (2,3,4). Radiation oncologists and physicists have already a long tradition in evaluating the existing infra- structure and measuring the treatment process.