LAUSR

MacDougall-Davis et al.’s `Gobetween' study raised some compelling ideas about teamwork and communication [1]. Intuitively, it would seem that the voicing of a message using the situation, background, assessment, recommendation (SBAR) method might require more time than the authors' `Traffic Lights tool, as twelve times as many words were used in the SBAR method during the example scenario (fig. 1). However, the median (IQR [range]) talk time (time to deliver the message) was reported in Table 1 as being very similar for both techniques (Traffic Lights 34.0 (26.0–37.0 [13.0–44.0]) vs. 35.0 (26.5–38.0 [12.0–50.0]) s for SBAR), even though this was a significant statistical difference (p < 0.0001). Conversely, the median (IQR [range]) time to walk between theatres (walk time), which should not be overly affected by the format in which a message is vocalised, was much quicker for Traffic Lights than for SBAR (20.5 (14.0– 29.5 [5.0–72.0]) vs. 45.5 (38.0–55.5 [14.0–92.0]) s, even though this was not found to be a statistically significant difference (p = 0.4). Reduction in walk time is discussed both in the original article and in Smith and Byrne’s editorial [2], but no explanations are offered either for this discrepancy or the unexpected statistical significances. Later in the paper, the talk time and walk time figures appear to have been reversed after teaching the go-between method. In Table 3, the median (IQR [range]) talk times are much quicker for Traffic Lights than for SBAR (21 (14–33 [5–68]) vs. 43 (35–54 [14–74]) s), while the walk times are similar for each (34 (23–36 [13–44]) vs. 36 (21–40 [12– 50]) s, respectively). Intuitively, these figures make more sense: the time taken to walk down a corridor is roughly constant, and saying a short message is much quicker than saying a long one. Could the authors comment on which sets of data are correct, as simple mislabeling of data might explain this discrepancy? The paper’s opening quotation – `The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place' – is a great line, but probably wrongly attributed to George Bernard Shaw, rather than William H. Whyte [3]. As Winston Churchill once wrote, `94% of quotations on the internet are wrong'. J. T. A. Wedgwood Frimley Park Hospital, Frimley, UK Email: [email protected]