NHS Extends Martha's Rule to All England A&E Units by March 2028

3 articles · Updated · bbc.co.uk · Sep 21

All emergency departments in England will now begin adopting Martha's Rule, letting patients, families and staff trigger an urgent second opinion through a dedicated phone line when deterioration is not being acted on.
The expansion follows an eight-month pilot at seven trusts, where 69 calls prompted urgent clinical reviews and in some cases led to immediate surgery or transfer to intensive care.
The rule was created after 13-year-old Martha Mills died in 2021 from sepsis at King's College Hospital; a coroner later found she would probably have survived with earlier intensive care and proper treatment.
NHS England said the rollout starts immediately and should be complete by March 2028, adding to an existing expansion across inpatient wards where thousands of calls have already led to treatment changes.
Scotland has begun using Martha's Rule, Northern Ireland is considering it, and Wales already runs a similar patient-safety scheme called Call4Concern.