Thousands of patients or their loved ones have sought a second opinion about their NHS care as a result of hospitals adopting Martha’s rule, MPs have heard. The patient safety procedure, introduced in many parts of the NHS in England last April, has led to more than 100 patients being taken to intensive care or equivalent, the Commons health and social care committee was told on Wednesday.
Dr Henrietta Hughes, the patient safety commissioner for England, told MPs that Martha’s rule was “improving safety” and “reducing harm”. The scheme, named after Martha Mills who died in 2021 aged 13, gives patients and their loved ones the right to request an urgent review of the person receiving hospital treatment, triggering a second opinion from a team of specialists.
Prof Sir Stephen Powis, NHS England’s national medical director, said the initiative “is already one of the most significant changes in patient safety in recent years, with hundreds of calls leading to improvements in patient care – and undoubtedly lives saved”. Martha died of sepsis after doctors at King’s College hospital in London did not move her to its intensive care unit, despite her parents voicing serious concern.
Martha’s mother, Merope, said patients have contacted her family to describe how the lives of their loved ones have been saved thanks to the rule. She said: “More than 100 people escalated to ICU or equivalent is a really significant number… What we really need now is to see Martha’s rule extended to all hospitals around the country.” So far, 143 hospitals in England have signed up to the pilot scheme.
Hughes told the select committee: “We’ve had over 2,000 calls [under the scheme], which have led to more than 300 patients having an improvement in their care and over 100 ending up being escalated to ITU or equivalent.” Rachel Power, chief executive of the Patients Association, applauded the early success and called for the rule to be rolled out across the entire NHS.
