Britain’s three main regulators for health professionals and providers are fully supportive of the new "Martha’s Rule" being rolled out this month, giving patients and families the power to request a review of their care if they think clinicians failed to spot a serious deterioration.
The rule will be rolled out at 100 locations over the next year, reports Nursing Times.
A joint statement of support was released by leaders from the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC), General Medical Council (GMC) and Care Quality Commission (CQC), which all said it “aligns” with their principles and code.
The rule is named after a teenager who died of sepsis after her family’s requests for an escalation in care were ignored. An inquest concluded that the death of 13-year-old Martha Mills was potentially avoidable.
Last year, the Department of Health & Social Care had announced that the rule would be implemented in 2024 and roll-out would begin this month.
Implementation will take a phased approach, beginning with at least 100 adult and paediatric acute provider sites which already offer a 24/7 critical care outreach capability, according to NHS England.
In a hospital or service where Martha’s Rule is implemented, any patient or relative may request a “rapid review” of the patient’s case to check if deterioration has been missed.
This review will be carried out by an independent critical care team, which may include nurses, doctors and other clinicians. In addition, clinicians, themselves, are able to trigger Martha’s Rule.
The regulators, in their statement, said the rule would ensure that the interests of patients and families remained at the “heart of decision-making”, and promoted safe, effective and kind care.
Bike accident
Martha had been taken to King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust in 2021 after a bicycle fall on a family holiday caused a pancreatic rupture.
She deteriorated in hospital, and pleas from parents – Merope Mills and Paul Laity – to escalate her care due to fears of sepsis were ignored by both doctors and nurses, who reassured the family she would recover without an escalation.
The teenager was, eventually, escalated to paediatric intensive care, but it was too late and she died shortly after admission to Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Since their daughter’s death, her parents have campaigned for the implementation of Martha’s Rule, modelled after a similar system in Australia named Ryan’s Rule.
In statements made as part of this campaign, the pair has said they did not feel listened to or respected by clinicians.
The regulators, in their statement, noted that Martha’s Rule supports “care that is person-centred, responsive, and aligned with high standards of professional practice”.
“We welcome the way that Martha’s Rule emphasises effective teamwork, mutual respect, and open communication,” they said.
Nursing Times article – Healthcare regulators back implementation of Martha’s Rule (Open access)
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