'Martha's Rule' to be rolled out in hospitals following 'preventable' death of girl, 13
Amber Middleton
Content writerMartha's parents have spent years campaigning for the rule that will enable patients and their families to request second opinions from hospital staff when seriously unwell
A new rule will be brought in to hospitals in England which allows patients and the family of seriously sick patients to request a second opinion from another doctor.
NHS England announced the implementation of 'Martha's Rule' today (21 February 2024).
This follows the 'preventable' death of Martha Mills who died when she was just 13 from sepsis, due to missed symptoms.
Her parents were 'ignored by doctors' when they requested Martha to be taken to intensive care because she was so poorly. She died days later. It's hoped this new rule will stop more preventable deaths.
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What is Martha's Rule?
Martha's Rule will enable 'patients and families to seek an urgent review if their condition deteriorates', NHS England announced today.
This means that if you have worries about your child, family member or yourself while they are very sick in hospital and you aren't happy with the guidance given by your doctor, you can receive a second opinion from an independent critical care team at any time of day.
NHS chief Amanda Pritchard said Martha's Rule has the potential to 'save many lives in the future'.
While Chief nursing officer for England, Dame Ruth May, said: 'This is a hugely important step in empowering the voices of patients, families and carers, and ensuring their concerns are heard'
The rule will be brought in across 100 NHS hospitals from April.
Why is Martha's Rule needed?
Martha's Rule is being brought in following years of campaigning from Merope Mills and Paul Laity.
Their daughter, Martha Mills, died from sepsis in hospital in 2021 when she was just 13.
Merope Mills and Paul Laity said: 'We are pleased that the implementation of Martha’s Rule will begin in April.
'We want it to be in place as quickly and as widely as possible, to prevent what happened to our daughter from happening to other patients in hospital.'
What happened to Martha?
Martha's death was found to be 'preventable'. She was the first ever child to die at King’s College hospital with the type of pancreatic injury she had.
She had injured herself while she was on holiday with her parents and younger sister, Lottie, in 2021. She was cycling when she slipped and fell onto the handlebars of her bike.
As she fell, her pancreas was crushed between the handlebars and her spine, injuring it.
After a few trips to different hospitals, including being transported via air ambulance to University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff and another to King’s College hospital in London, doctors found that Martha likely had pancreatic trauma caused from her fall.
King's is one of three specialist centres in England that deals with pancreatic injuries in children so both Paul and Merope were grateful to be in safe hands.
'It turned out, however, that Martha was cosmically unlucky,' Merope told the Guardian.
Signs of sepsis
After a few weeks of staying on the ward at King's, trying to recover from her pancreas injury, Martha started to get more unwell with a fever, sickness and diarrhoea.
The doctors prescribed antibiotics to get rid of the infection within 72 hours and her parents were told that infections like this were 'common.'
But after a few days, the fever was still present, and Martha was now bleeding from the tubes that were connected to her body.
She was showing signs of severe sepsis but at no point was admitted to intensive care where sepsis could have been treated more easily.
Martha continued to decline and Merope told a consultant she worried that Martha had septic shock but she was told 'I’m not worried about sepsis'.
Paul alerted the doctors of new symptoms, with Martha unable to stand due to dizziness – but still nothing was done.
Merope insisted to doctors and a nurse that Martha might have sepsis but she was not listened to and was told to trust the doctors.
It was only after Martha started fitting that doctors finally took Merope and Paul seriously and Martha was transferred her to Great Ormond Street Children’s Hospital where she was put into a coma.
But it was too late and Martha never woke up from the coma, just days before her 14th birthday.
'She didn’t die completely in vain'
Following Martha's death, an inquest found 'catastrophic' faults in the care she was given and it was found that she likely would have survived if she had been moved to intensive care.
King's Hospital has since apologised.
Since then, both Paul and Merope have campaigned for Martha's Rule to come into hospitals, allowing patients and their families to advocate for themselves and avoid another tragic death.
Martha's parents said: 'Our daughter was quite something: fun and determined, with a vast appetite for life and so many plans and ambitions – we’ll never know what she would have achieved with all her talents.
'Hers was a preventable death, but Martha’s Rule will mean that she didn’t die completely in vain.'
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