ABSTRACT
Surgical audit is the critical and systematic analysis of quality of surgical care, with the aim of improving the standards of surgical care. Most audits are retrospective studies. The main subtypes of surgical audit are audit of structure, audit of process, and audit of outcome. Audit of structure refers to the organisation and availability of resources to deliver the surgical service. Audit of process refers to the way in which the patient has been managed from admission to discharge. Audit of outcome is the audit of surgical intervention. This chapter examines how a surgeon quantifies the quality of life and satisfaction of the patient. This can be evaluated using a system of quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). One year of current life in perfect health is equal to 1 QALY. The chapter also focuses on characteristics which make a surgical audit successful. They are complete, honest and accurate, educational, confidential, objective, reproducible, and cost-effective.
