Evidence map›Paper›PMID 11733585›Full record

ArticleJournal of the Royal Society of Medicine2001

Is the National Health Service at the edge of chaos?

M C Papadopoulos, M Hadjitheodossiou, C Chrysostomou, C Hardwidge, B A Bell

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, 2001. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
9citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

9 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Review
  2. A simple guide to chaos and complexity.Journal of epidemiology and community health · 2007
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Self-regulation in hospital waiting lists.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2002
    Article
  6. Self-regulation in hospital waiting lists.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2002
    Article
  7. Do in-hospital waiting lists show self-regulation?Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2002
    Article
  8. Edge of chaos.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2002
    Article
  9. Edge of chaos.Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine · 2002
    Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

M C PapadopoulosDepartment of Neurosurgery, Hurstwood Park Neurological Centre, Hayward's Heath RH16 4EX, UK. MPapadopoulos@compuserve.com
M Hadjitheodossiou
C Chrysostomou
C Hardwidge
B A Bell

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

We used chaos and complexity theory to analyse waiting-list data (1998-2001) pertaining to over 20 000 National Health Service (NHS) patients from general surgical, orthopaedic and neurosurgical units across England. Plots of frequency versus quarter-to-quarter change in waiting times revealed a power relation which seems independent of surgical specialty and hospital location. One interpretation of these findings is that, for the period in question, the NHS was a system at the edge of chaos. This hypothesis might explain why waiting times have resisted attempts at shortening.

Indexed as

Waiting ListsAmbulatory CareHumansNonlinear DynamicsReferral and ConsultationState MedicineUnited Kingdom

Identifiers

PMID11733585
PMCPMC1282291

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.