In 1982 a prospective Audit of complications and mortality and a quarterly retrospective analysis of work done were undertaken on the orthopaedic unit of Southmead Hospital, Bristol. Since no account has been presented of Orthopaedic Audit it was felt that a discussion of the method, results and whether the aims had been achieved and at what cost would be of interest to other surgeons, and to orthopaedic surgeons in particular. Two orthopaedic surgeons treated 1811 inpatients during the year; 73.7% of the patients undergoing surgery at Southmead Hospital were emergencies. Mortality, excluding fractures of the neck of femur, was 0.22% and total mortality 1.8%; 16.7% of patients had a recorded complication of which the largest group was technical failure (2.7%) followed by wound infection (2.4%).