title: Lies, damned lies and statistics.
abstract: Readers may remember Jim Miller's introductory article in this series (Miller 2001), where lessons learnt from the Titanic disaster were related to lessons to be learnt in the NHS today. Unfortunately many of those lessons are yet to be learnt by some of our organisations or, certainly, lessons which need to be applied consistently. One of those lessons related to the need for accurate data and using it to inform action and priorities. This article identifies some of the data requirements. where they might be obtained and the need for a systematic process to inform strategy.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Campbell
mesh_terms: D003625:Data Collection / Q000379:methods; D004282:Documentation; D006801:Humans; D013527:Perioperative Nursing; D012308:Risk Management / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006113:United Kingdom