A new patient safety initiative – Martha’s Rule – has been implemented across Bedfordshire Hospitals following the failings of a doctor responsible for the care of 13-year-old Martha Mills.
Over the last six months, Martha’s Rule has been introduced across all adult inpatient wards at both Bedford Hospital and the Luton & Dunstable University Hospital. Children’s services are beginning their pilot in the first week of July.
Martha Mills sustained an injury whilst riding her bike on a family holiday in 2021 and went on to develop sepsis.
Merope Mills, Martha’s mother, says that they “were not given the full picture” about Martha’s worsening condition.
Martha died approximately one month later.
In 2023, the coroner’s report ruled that Martha had a high chance of surviving if she had been moved to intensive care earlier. After this, Merope knew she had to take action, and this is where ‘Martha’s Rule’ began.
What is Martha’s Rule?
· Martha’s Rule allows healthcare staff, patients and families to raise concerns about any deterioration
· It involves staff asking, listening, recording and acting on any changes in condition reported by patients or their loved ones
· The service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week through dedicated phone lines
· All staff will be able to ask for a review from a different team if they are concerned that a patient is deteriorating, and they are not being responded too
· Information from a patient that detects they are deteriorating in any way will be acted on in a “structured way”
The confirmation of the first sites testing this rule is the next step in a major patient safety initiative.
The NHS announced on 27 May that 143 hospital sites will test ‘Martha’s Rule’ in its first year, with Bedfordshire hospitals included in this number.
Published as part of our work experience partnership with Kimberley College
