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The purpose of this paper is to assess the benefits of introducing a laser room poster in improving delivery of laser pan retinal photocoagulation (PRP) in treatment of proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR).

An audit was carried out to describe the practice prior to introducing laser room poster. A reaudit was conducted after its introduction to evaluate if the practice had improved.

There was a 20 per cent increase (92 per cent in reaudit versus 72 per cent in audit) in total number of laser burns between 1,000‐2,500 burns during first session. In a completed PRP, an increase of 23 per cent was recorded (45 per cent versus 22 per cent) in total number of laser burns between 3,000‐6,000 burns. Retinal area ablated less than recommended by ETDRS fell by 21 per cent (18 versus 39). Not surprisingly the percentage of patients requiring re‐treatment after completed PRP fell from 30 per cent to 21 per cent, indicating an overall improvement in PRP treatment results.

Future strategies for improving clinical effectiveness can be based on experience gained from this project. Laser room poster can be an important tool in ophthalmology departments in the management of PDR.

Complaints can provide the health provider with vital information on its performance and can point towards areas for improvement. The purpose of this study was to undertake a retrospective study of all formal complaints in an eye hospital over a three‐year period in order to look at the complaint rate, demographics, their nature, how they were resolved and the lessons learned.

Complaints received were entered onto the complaints module of the DATIX database system. Formal patient complaints between April 2003 and March 2006 available on the DATIX database were analysed retrospectively.

The study found that there were total of 94 formal complaints out of 186,323 attendances at the hospital. The overall complaint rate was 5.09 per 10,000 attendances. 52(55.31 per cent) complaints were about rescheduling or cancellation of appointments. Complaints related to communication failure were 17(18.08 per cent) followed by clinical complaints, which totalled 13 (13.82 per cent). Four (4.25 per cent) complaints each under the category of amenities, administrative and waiting times were also recorded. The complaint rate for Outpatients Department was 1.5 per 10,000 attendances. The in‐patient ward had a complaint rate of 0.91 per 1000. The complaint rate for A&E department was 0.88 per 10,000 attendances. The operation theatre plus laser sessions had a complaint rate of 0.95 per 10,000. 79 (84.04 per cent) complaints were resolved at the first stage of local resolution. Complaints during the study period brought about two clinical changes in practice.

The use of complaints data as an important tool to learn from less satisfied patients is recommended. Comparing and sharing data on complaints between hospitals can help to highlight common deficient areas and can also be used to plan strategies.

This paper aims to study the changes in anti‐nutritional factors during the germination of the Indian bean and also to carryout an evaluation by subjecting it to different cooking treatments – boiling, roasting and pressure cooking.

The healthy Indian bean (Dolichos lablab L.) seeds were soaked for 12 h and allowed to germinate (sprout) at room temperature 27±2^○C for a period of 32 h. Seedlings were withdrawn at designated time intervals and used for analysis of anti‐nutritional factors like trypsin inhibitory activity (TIA), phytic acid, polyphenols and tannins of dried and germinated cotyledons. They were also evaluated regarding their changes by subjecting to different cooking treatments – boiling, roasting and pressure cooking.

The raw dry Indian bean had a very high TIA which decreases progressively to 17 per cent at 32 h germination period. An overall fall in polyphenols of 70 per cent, tannins 46 per cent, phytic acids 36 per cent and phytate phosphorus to 30 per cent was noticed during the 32 h germination period. Maximum reduction was observed in TIA and phytic acids with roasting, while the boiling and pressure cooking decreases the levels of polyphenols and tannins.

The paper proves that germination is a more effective method in reducing TIA, tannins, polyphenols and phytic acid than the various cooking treatments.