13th October 2008
Doctors simply don’t have the time to look at all the medical trials done on all of the recommended remedies for the diseases of every patient that visits them, so how do they know what to prescribe? Luckily, the Cochrane Collaboration does this work for them. They assess all the science and give their recommendations as to what works and what doesn’t. Obviously, it’s important to get this right. And the best way to make sure you get things right is by being self-critical and encouraging criticism from others. In this spirit – The Cochrane Collaboration awards an annual “Bill Silverman Prize” for the best criticism of The Cochrane Collaboration.
And now Xibis, with its commitment to continuous improvement, announces its own prize, entitled “The Other Bill Silverman Prize” awarded to the person giving the best criticism of Xibis’s procedures, operations, services and customer care. Criticism will be judged by the following criteria:
- How it is accompanied by suggestions as to how that area could be improved.
- How it has had, or is likely to have a positive impact on the quality of Xibis’s procedures, operations, services and customer care.
Entries should be submitted through our contact form with the subject line “The Other Bill Silverman Prize”.
For those who are interested in such things, Bill Silverman was one of the founders of American neonatal medicine. He was known amongst his peers for raising questions about scientific studies and ethics. He championed the opinion that criticism is a “form of troublemaking that can help to drive progress”.
Bill Silverman tried to find a cure for retinopathy of prematurity – which can cause blindness in premature babies. He tried treating them with ACTH and found that only 2 of 31 babies lost their sight as compared to another hospital where 6 out of 7 lost their sight. Many doctors would have continued the treatment and informed other doctors, but in the spirit of self-criticism, Bill realised a proper trial was needed. The trial showed that ACTH made the babies MORE likely to become blind or worse – to die. Bill’s commitment to criticism saved a lot of babies from blindness or death; a great example of the importance of being self-critical.
We will choose a winner for the Champagne at the end of the year.