The Comparative Audit Service of the Royal College of Surgeons of England undertook an audit of tonsillectomy throughout England and Wales in 1997. There were three parts to the audit: a management questionnaire related to tonsillectomy and its indications; an inpatient questionnaire for patients undergoing tonsillectomy; and a postoperative patient questionnaire. One hundred and fourteen ENT consultants returned the management questionnaire, 2450 questionnaires on inpatient details were returned by 132 consultants, and 1408 patients returned postoperative questionnaires. Two-thirds of the patients underwent tonsillectomy for recurrent acute tonsillitis, and most stayed 1 night in hospital; only 3% were day cases. Postoperative haemorrhage necessitated return to theatre for 0.75% of patients. Almost 7% of patients had to be readmitted after discharge. Overall, 92% of patients felt that their throat was better than before the operation, but slightly less than this number (88%) were pleased that they had the operation. The results are further discussed in the paper. The ability to cross-reference each part of the audit for individual patients proved extremely useful.