Gareth Iacobucci , 2025-09-04 15:31:00
Martha’s rule—a scheme allowing patients and families to get an urgent second opinion if they are concerned about their own or a loved one’s care—will be expanded to every acute care hospital in England.
The programme is named after 13 year old Martha Mills, who died in an NHS hospital in 2021 from sepsis after being admitted with a pancreatic injury sustained when she fell off her bike. During her care, her family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to.1 An inquest later concluded that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.2
Last year NHS England launched a pilot of the scheme in 143 hospitals, after …