RESUMO
OBJECTIVE: To find comparative elements for quality control in major ambulatory surgery (MAS) units. METHOD: Descriptive and comparative study of the Ambulatory Care Index (AI) and Substitution Index (SI) in the Santa Cristina Hospital Surgery Service (Madrid, Spain) compared to Key Indicators (KI) of the National Health Service (NHS). RESULTS: 7,817 MAS procedures (between 2006 and 2014) were analysed. The average annual AI was 54%, higher (p <0.0001) than «ambulatory surgery¼ KI. The hernia outpatient procedures (average 72%) were also superior to the national KI (p <0.0001), but ambulatory haemorrhoidectomy (average 33.6%) was clearly lower (p <0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: KI of the NHS are useful and allow to establish a proper development in the global AI and hernia outpatient surgery with opportunities for improvement in haemorrhoidectomy. Their collection should be careful, not including minor surgeries. Also, their usefulness could be increased if data was broken down by speciality and by complexity.