NHS overhauls care system after first 16 months of Martha’s Rule
More than 10,000 calls have been made to Martha’s Rule helplines in the first 16 months of the NHS scheme, saving lives and helping thousands of patients benefit from changes to their care. Data from NHS England shows that one in three calls (34%) to Martha’s Rule by patients, families and staff identified rapid worsening of a patient’s condition, helping the NHS to identify concerns more quickly and make crucial interventions to care. Moreover, hospitals have rolled out communications campaigns, including dedicated posters around their wards and buildings, to help raise awareness of Martha’s Rule. This ensures the programme is easy to understand and that its use is normalised for patients, families and staff. The tragedy that led to Martha’s Rule Martha Mills died in 2021, aged 13, after developing sepsis in hospital, where she had been admitted with a pancreatic injury after falling off her bike. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not addressed, and in 2022, a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive …
