Martha’s Rule - a mechanism for staff, family and carers if they are worried about a person's condition in hospital

All about caring
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This is good to know:

Martha’s Rule

The first phase of the introduction of Martha’s Rule will be implemented in the NHS from April 2024. Once fully implemented, patients, families, carers and staff will have round-the-clock access to a rapid review from a separate care team if they are worried about a person’s condition.

https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/marthas-rule/

The 3 proposed components of Martha’s Rule are:

  1. All staff in NHS trusts must have 24/7 access to a rapid review from a critical care outreach team, who they can contact should they have concerns about a patient.
  2. All patients, their families, carers, and advocates must also have access to the same 24/7 rapid review from a critical care outreach team, which they can contact via mechanisms advertised around the hospital, and more widely if they are worried about the patient’s condition.
  3. The NHS must implement a structured approach to obtain information relating to a patient’s condition directly from patients and their families at least daily. In the first instance, this will cover all inpatients in acute and specialist trusts.
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Anyone know the back story?

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Quoting from NHS England:

Martha Mills died in 2021 after developing sepsis in hospital, where she had been admitted with a pancreatic injury after falling off her bike. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to, and in 2023 a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.