Martha’s rule rolled out to all acute hospitals in England

Martha’s rule, a way for families to request a second urgent opinion if they are concerned about the care that their loved ones receive, will be deployed in all English hospitals providing acute or short -term treatment.

The line of telephone assistance, the result of a campaign by the parents of Martha Mills, 13, who died after serious failures in his care, was managed on 143 hospital sites in England since April 2024.

NHS figures in England show that since then there have been nearly 5,000 calls, which has led to 241 potentially vital interventions.

Martha’s mother, Merope Mills, praised the expansion on what would have been her daughter’s 18th anniversary, but wishes access to the UK scale.

She declared to the BBC Radio 4 BBC program that the new figures had proven the need for the rule and “a kind of different and more equal doctor-patient relationship”.

Martha Mills, died at King’s College Hospital in London after developing sepsis. The concerns of his family have not been listened to.

In 2022, a coroner judged that Martha would probably have survived if it had been transferred earlier to intensive care and had received appropriate treatment

The initiative encourages families, caregivers and patients to express themselves if they notice changes in the patient’s condition and request an urgent examination of an intensive care team if the patient deteriorates and their concerns are not listened to.

As part of the program, clinicians also record daily information on the health of a patient directly from families.

Staff, including those with junior positions, can also request an examination of a team independent of the one with which they work.

NHS England data shows 4,906 calls to the assistance lines of Martha’s rules, almost three -quarters (71.9%) came from families who asked for help:

• 720 has led to changes in care, such as new antibiotics or drugs
• 794 helped resolve delays in surveys or treatments
• 1,030 helped solve communication problems or problems with patient release

Merope Mills said she was delighted that more people were going to have access to the rule.

“I think the data proves that there is a need and reassured us and clinicians in the country he already saves lives.

“And more importantly, this highlighted the need for a kind of different and more equal doctor-patient relationship in the country.”

She called for an expansion of the program to the rest of the United Kingdom, saying that unjust patients did not have access to it everywhere. She also underlined a need in maternity care.

The Secretary of Health, Wes Street, said that he was grateful to the NHS staff who had adopted the campaign and “especially to Merope and Paul and the Mills family for their campaign efforts”.

He promised to share the latest results with colleagues in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

He said that he had “seen and heard similar experiences where mothers were not listened to in maternity services”.

“So I think there are common problems here so that the NHS can learn in terms of listening to patients, listening to women in particular and ensuring that we answer in the right way, in the right place, at the right time to avoid damage and worst cases, deaths.”

On Radio 4, Ms. Mills read an e-mail she had received from an auditor of the today’s program who thought that the life of a child in her family had been saved after calling the hotline.

She read: “I followed Martha’s story on Radio 4, never thinking who I knew would have to use Martha’s rule.

“Thank you for the bottom of your heart for everything you have done and do to raise awareness and empower people in an environment where we all feel naturally intimidated.”

Ms. Mills said that even if she knows that some people feel that the word patient does not apply to them: “The reality is that we are all, as I know, a catastrophe far from us on this subject …

“It could be your mother, it could be your brother, God preserves us that it could be your child who, one day, needs that,” she said.

A continuous complete evaluation of the Martha rule will help to inform its possible future extension in hospitals involved in longer -term care, mental health trusts and community environments.

The Welsh government presents a similar program, called Call4Conner, which should be deployed in all hospitals by the end of next year.

The Scottish government is testing a number of Martha rule pilots and plans to develop a “more coherent and national approach”.

The Northern Ireland Ministry of Health said it was “determined to improve patient safety” and although there are no immediate plans to introduce Martha’s reign there, it would continue to monitor deployment and impact in England.