Based on studies carried on for more than ten years, various methods for voluntary quality control of surgical care are proposed. Besides short-term measures (e.g., "strategy of therapy"), a long-term pilot study would permit detection of defects and errors in surgical care through the recording of comparable data. An organization (similar to the Dutch "Concilium chirurgicum") should sponser visitations to various surgical centers. These two, strictly voluntary measures should form the basis for quality control that boots self-esteem of surgeons and does away with the need for state-sponsored measures.