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

Letter

Disappearing teaspoons

Spoon solutions

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

Editor—To solve the problem of disappearing spoons reported by Lee et al,¹ I would like to introduce the authors to the recently developed chaotic randomly uniform muddled botch-up system (CRUMBS), by which it is predicted that immobilisation and non-provision are the two possible ways of dealing with the matter.

The first solution, immobilisation, may be achieved by using chained teaspoons (analogous to the chained bibles of the Middle Ages), where a large chain with thick links attaches the spoon to a strongly mounted wall bracket. Non-provision solves the problem by not supplying teaspoons, forcing staff to bring their own, which they are more likely to protect than institutional spoons.

I hope this is helpful.

King's College London Dental Institute at Guy's, King's and St Thomas's Hospitals, London SE1 9RT trevor.watts@kcl.ac.uk

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Competing interests: TW keeps his teaspoon in a locked drawer in his office. He is thinking of starting a business in the supply of chained teaspoons.

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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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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