The Art of Statistics: Learning from Data

by David Spiegelhalter

A monitoring system for general practitioners was subsequently piloted, which immediately identified a GP with even higher mortality rates than Shipman! Investigation revealed this doctor practised in a south-coast town with a large number of retirement homes with many old people, and he conscientiously helped many of his patients to remain out of hospital for their death. It would have been completely inappropriate for this GP to receive any publicity for his apparently high rate of signing death certificates. The lesson here is that while statistical systems can detect outlying outcomes, they cannot offer reasons why these might have occurred, so they need careful implementation in order to avoid false accusations. Another reason to be cautious about algorithms.

Algorithms never give reasons