Almost one out of every eight phone calls made under the Martha’s Rule scheme has led to a potentially life-saving change of treatment, NHS England has revealed.<\/b><\/p>\n The scheme allows rapidly deteriorating patients and their families who feel their concerns are being ignored to dial a phone number at the hospital and request an urgent review from a critical-care outreach team.<\/p>\n Merope Mills began campaigning for the scheme after an inquest found<\/a> a change of care plan could have prevented her 13-year-old daughter Martha’s death from sepsis in 2021.<\/p>\n And on Tuesday, she told BBC R4’s Today programme she was “excited” by the early data on its rollout in 143 NHS hospitals across England.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Of the 573 calls in September and October, 286 (50%) led to a critical-care review, resulting in a change of treatment, such as antibiotics, oxygen or other medication, in 57 cases and a further 14 patients being transferred into intensive care.<\/p>\n Admitted to King’s College Hospital, in south London, after injuring her pancreas in a cycling accident, Martha died after developing an infection that led to sepsis.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “Losing a loved one in a preventable way compounds your grief and your devastation,” her mother told Today.<\/p>\n “But if nobody learns from it, nothing changes.” <\/p>\n Campaigning for Martha’s Rule had been “exhausting” but seeing people willing to learn from mistakes had helped her and her husband.<\/p>\n “There were definitely sceptics” at the scheme’s launch, in April, Ms Mills said.<\/p>\n She told Today: “There were people who said if you give patients this kind of power, they’ll call it for the wrong reasons – they will be complaining about food, they’ll be wanting a cup of tea.<\/p>\n “And we have the first clear evidence that this is not the case.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n “It’s clear to me that if we implement Martha’s Rule nationally, we can confidently say that it would greatly improve care, change the culture and save lives.” <\/p>\n Ms Mills highlighted an Institute of <\/a>Global Health Innovation report<\/a> of more than 15,000 preventable deaths in the UK last year, saying Martha’s Rule “could play a part in getting that number down”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And she is calling for the scheme to be extended to all NHS hospitals, with posters and leaflets displaying the same branding.<\/p>\n “I’d really like it to be simple around the country and for patients to understand it in the way that they understand 999, and 111,” Ms Mills added.<\/p>\n NHS England says 2025 and 2026 will see further developments to extend the scheme and adapt it where necessary.<\/p>\n A similar scheme is being piloted by the NHS in Wales and considered in Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n And in Scotland, 2019 legislation already gives NHS patients the right to request a second opinion.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Professor Sir Stephen Powis, the NHS national medical director, said early evidence suggested Martha’s Rule was starting to have a “transformative effect” on patient safety.<\/p>\n NHS England said proposals to expand the scheme to all acute hospitals in the country will be informed by an evaluation of the system currently operating in pilot hospitals.<\/p>\n Further expansion of the scheme is subject to future government funding, NHS England added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Merope](\"https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/480\/cpsprodpb\/2615\/live\/38928d90-bc32-11ef-aff0-072ce821b6ab.png.webp\")
Merope Mills<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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