Martha's Rule and NHS patient safety

The critical issue of a patient's right to a second medical, clinical review has recently hit the headlines with Martha's Rule. The rule relates to the death of a 13-year-old girl in NHS care in tragic circumstances. The Guardian reported: ‘Inquest says Martha Mills would probably not have died of sepsis if King's College Hospital doctors had heeded warnings’ (Siddique, 2022).

Merope Mills, Martha's mother, writes in detail about what happened and what should happen next, in a foreword to a report by policy think-tank Demos (Curtis and Wood, 2023). She also spoke to the national media, with her words causing shockwaves throughout the nation and the NHS. There are acute patient safety lessons to learn from this tragedy.

She (Curtis and Wood, 2023) writes about the importance of patients, carers and families having a formalised right to an urgent clinical review and second opinion, where there is a suspected deterioration of the patient's condition or where they have serious concerns. Her discussion strikes right at the heart of the patient safety problems that have persistently plagued the NHS and continue to do so. It is a wake-up call to all those working in the NHS. She identifies several acute systemic NHS patient safety failings, which include those outlined below.