Martha’s rule presents a unique opportunity for improving patient care

Much has been written recently about Martha’s rule—the proposal to allow patients in hospitals in England and their families the right to demand an urgent second opinion if their condition is deteriorating. The call has been led by the parents of Martha Mills, who died of sepsis at King’s College Hospital just before her fourteenth birthday.1 The coroner, Mary Hassell, said, “The serious incident investigation identified that Martha’s care fell down between the paediatric hepatologists and the paediatric intensivists.” This was a major contributor to Martha’s death.234The policy think tank Demos has recently published a proposal for Martha’s rule which combines elements of two existing programmes: Ryan’s rule—a programme in Queensland, Australia, named after a 3 year old boy, Ryan Saunders, who died from undiagnosed streptococcal infection—and Call 4 Concern, a family activated rapid response system established at the Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust by critical care nurse consultant Mandy…
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