ABSTRACT
Not so long ago I was present at a handover carried out in a hospital ward. There were five people at the meeting. One person was going off shift and handing over to the four people who were coming on duty. In common with the way this activity has gone on for many years the person going off shift did about 95% of the talking. He went through the details of 28 patients in half an hour. I cannot remember how much information, how many facts came out in that time but they were plentiful. What I can remember is the glaze that slowly developed in the eyes of the people listening and the resigned look on a couple of faces by the time the handover finished.
