Martha's rule permanently rolled out in hospitals

An initiative that allows an urgent review of care when there are concerns about a patient's worsening condition has officially launched at four hospitals.

Martha's Rule allows rapidly deteriorating patients and their families who feel their concerns are being ignored to dial a phone number at the hospital and request a review from a critical-care outreach team.

Following a pilot of the scheme, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (OUH) has now rolled it out across all inpatient wards across its four hospitals.

The NHS England scheme is named in honour of 13‑year‑old Martha Mills, who died from sepsis in hospital following a bike accident in 2021.

Abi Mansfield, who leads OUH's Martha's Rule scheme, said its introduction would "strengthen patient safety".

"It builds on the safeguards already in place, empowering patients, families, carers and staff to speak up," she said.

"It also brings greater consistency to how concerns are managed across our hospitals and reflects our commitment to delivering compassionate excellence."

The telephone helpline scheme was piloted in 143 hospital sites in England from April 2024.

Figures from NHS England last year showed that since that pilot began, there had been almost 5,000 calls, resulting in 241 potentially life-saving interventions.

Prof Andrew Brent, chief medical officer at OUH, said Martha's rule was an "important step forward".

"Families and carers play a crucial role in recognising subtle changes that may not yet appear in clinical observations, and their insights can help us act sooner," he said.

"Ensuring people feel confident to raise concerns is central to safe, high‑quality care."

Martha Mills, died at King's College Hospital in London in 2021 after her family's concerns were not listened to.

In 2022 a coroner ruled Martha would probably have survived if she had been transferred earlier to intensive care and given appropriate treatment

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