Real world impact of Christmas BMJ research.

Abstract

Rapid Response: The real world impact of Christmas BMJ research Dear Editor Regular readers of the Christmas BMJ issue may have seen our 2022 article, "Taking the biscuit: defining excessive quantities of free refreshments in a healthcare library", investigating staff attitudes towards free refreshments and what constitutes “excessive consumption.” (1) This work identified that most people, when faced with the potential for unlimited free hot drinks and biscuits, would take no more than 3 free hot drinks and 2 packets of biscuits over the course of a working day. Free refreshments are usually intended to be a “work perk” to improve morale, and “back-of-a-biscuit-wrapper” calculations suggested that the cost to provide all NHS staff members with unlimited refreshments daily would be 0.084% of the total NHS budget. As such, the article concluded that any such initiative should be without restriction of “excessive consumption”, with staff allowed to exercise their own judgement about equitable intake. Christmas BMJ articles are frequently widely disseminated, generate significant positive publicity, and have excellent Altmetric scores; however, despite notable exceptions (2), we are unaware of many instances of them generating widespread changes to service delivery or clinical practice. We were therefore delighted to see that Derby and Burton Hospitals Charity had decided, independently of the authors of the original manuscript, to support an initiative providing free hot drinks for all staff members of University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust. They credited the Christmas BMJ article with providing support for the proposal and its modelling. The recent implementation of this initiative unfortunately renders an impact assessment impossible. Whilst it is disappointing that other rigorous, snack-based research has not yet seen effective translation into clinical practice (3), it is pleasing to see that even light-hearted research can have a real-world impact. This programme will support staff well-being and morale, which in turn enables them to provide our patients with better care. Dare we say that this initiative may even spread Christmas cheer throughout the year?