BMJ  2006;332:121 (14 January), doi:10.1136/bmj.332.7533.121-c

Letter

Disappearing teaspoons

Teaspoons may reappear

The first 100% of the full text of this article appears below.

Editor—The paper by Lim et al has not taken account of the fact that teaspoons may reappear.1 What steps were taken in this study to identify individuals? It is our experience in this institution that teaspoons regularly go on awaydays, when there are, of course, no teaspoons available in the office at all, but they then return, and a full cohort may be available and ready for use in a couple of days' time. Clearly, if teaspoons are replaced during the short absence of an awayday, they will feel under no obligation to return. This may invalidate the findings of this paper on number needed to keep an institution supplied.

Katherine Darton, information officer

Mind, London E15 4BQ k.darton@mind.org.uk

Competing interests: None declared.

  1. Lim MSC, Hellard ME, Aitken CK. The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute. BMJ 2005;331: 1498-500. (24-31 December.)[Abstract/Free Full Text]

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Relevant Article

The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute
Megan S C Lim, Margaret E Hellard, and Campbell K Aitken
BMJ 2005 331: 1498-1500. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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