Martha’s rule, which lets NHS patients request a review of their care, is now in operation in every acute hospital in England, health service bosses disclosed on Thursday.
The system has helped hundreds of people receive potentially life-saving improvements to their treatment since its rollout began last year. It has led directly to patients being moved to intensive care or receiving drugs they needed, such as antibiotics, or benefiting from other vital interventions.
It is named after Martha Mills, who died in 2021 at the age of 13 from sepsis after a bicycle accident. A coroner found she would probably have survived if she had been moved to the intensive care unit at King’s College hospital in London when she began deteriorating. Martha would have been 18 on Thursday if she had lived.
Martha’s rule became available in 143 acute hospitals in England last year. But it has also been implemented in the other 67 such sites, which means all 210 acute facilities are covered.
It gives patients, their loved ones and NHS staff the right to ask for a different medical team to examine the care being provided and recommend changes.
NHS England’s national medical director, Prof Meghana Pandit, said it is having “a transformative impact” on how hospitals work with patients and their families when their condition is worsening.
Martha’s rule helplines in hospitals received 4,906 calls between last September and June from patients, relatives or staff who were worried about care. That led to 241 people receiving improvements to their care that may have saved their life.
“It would be Martha’s 18th birthday today, another milestone she has missed as a result of the poor care and hospital errors that led to her unnecessary death,” said her parents, Merope Mills and Paul Laity, who persuaded ministers and NHS bosses to adopt the system of independent review.
“We feel her absence every day. But at least Martha’s rule is already preventing many families from experiencing something similar.
“The figures prove that lives are saved when patients and families are given power to act on their suspicions when they feel doctors might have got it wrong and their voice isn’t being heard.”
They welcomed the adoption of the system named after their daughter by all 210 acute sites in England. “We look forward to a time when every patient in the UK knows about the initiative and has easy access to it,” they added.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, said Martha’s parents’ “tireless campaigning has created a lasting legacy that is already having a potentially life-saving impact across England”.
Rachel Power, the chief executive of the Patients Association, said the fact that every acute hospital in England now offers Martha’s rule was “a landmark moment for patient safety”.
Almost three-quarters of the 4,096 calls came from parents seeking help, NHS England data showed.
Walsall Manor hospital rolled out Martha’s rule last year across its services for adults and recently extended it to services for children.
Amy Blakemore, a matron in its sepsis and outreach response team, said that showed families and carers “are a vital part of the care and treatment decisions that are made for the children and young people in our hospital”.
“Any concerns in relation to their child’s deteriorating condition that they feel are not being listened to can initiate Martha’s rule and they can get an independent review,” she said.
