Intended for healthcare professionals

Rapid response to:

On The Case

The case of the disappearing teaspoons: longitudinal cohort study of the displacement of teaspoons in an Australian research institute

BMJ 2005; 331 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.331.7531.1498 (Published 22 December 2005) Cite this as: BMJ 2005;331:1498

Rapid Response:

Further to One Spoon Effect

I have just come upon this article having worked in my present
building for the best part of a year, with common tea room facilities
shared amongst some thirty different and independent tenants with an
estimated hundred or so staff. My experiences suggest that the previously
postulated One Spoon Effect (Rapid Response, 12 Jan 2006) is a factor
which should be better researched and understood for its implications in
the subject study.

When I commenced at the start of 2008, the supply of teaspoons had
been completely replenished with fresh spoons, all older spoons being
removed (more about them later). Spoon retention conditions seemed
favourable, in that offices in the building are fairly sparse and
uncluttered, the only washing facility for spoons in the building was in
the kitchen where the spoons initially came from, and washing duties were
undertaken for all tenants by the landlord's staff, who (presumably) could
be relied upon to restock spoons once washed. Over the course of a few
months, however, a hundred spoons had dwindled to a half dozen.

However, at this point, the Tragedy of the Commons Effect seemed to
come undone, as suggested by the proponent of the One Spoon Theory. While
people still used spoons, they were generally quite diligent in their
return, knowing how few spoons were left, and attrition almost ceased. In
each case thereafter where spoons did disappear permanently, within two to
three days previously missing spoons, themselves considered permanently
lost, reappeared. When the landlord, noting the low numbers of spoons and
the complaints received, recently reintroduced the old spoons (which had
been stored in a box "just in case"), spoon attrition immediately
recommenced, returning the group to the equilibrium of six spoons within
barely two weeks. The unsatisfactory number of spoons per head (resulting
in frequently missing out on a spoon) and the high levels of
dissatisfaction with the prevailing situation seem to combine to reinforce
the awareness of spoon users of the need to ensure their timely return.

Competing interests:
None declared

Competing interests: No competing interests

15 December 2008
Peter A. Caporaso
Solicitor
Maylands, Australia 5069