‘Martha’s Rule’ plan for Wales after girl’s death
THE Welsh Government is working to bring a similar scheme to Martha’s Rule to Wales, and pilot schemes are currently being tested by health boards.
Martha’s Rule has been rolled out to hundreds of hospitals in England and the idea is it will give patients and families access to a rapid review from a separate care team if they are concerned that a condition is getting worse.
It is the legacy of 13-year-old Martha Mills, who fell off her bike while on holiday in Eryri in 2021.
She suffered a pancreatic injury and was taken to specialists in King’s College London for treatment, but she developed sepsis and it was not treated accordingly.
A coroner ruled she would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs of her rapidly deteriorating condition and transferred her to intensive care earlier.
Martha’s parents, Merope Mills, an editor at the Guardian, and her husband Paul Laity, raised concerns about Martha’s health a number of times but these were brushed aside.
The pair have since campaigned for Martha’s Rule to be introduced to give families more say. They said in a statement: “We are pleased that the implementation of Martha’s Rule will begin in April.
“We want it to be in place as quickly and as widely as possible, to prevent what happened to our daughter from happening to other patients in hospital.
“We believe Martha’s Rule will save lives. In cases of deterioration, families and carers by the bedside can be aware of changes busy clinicians can’t; their knowledge should be recognised as a resource.
“We also look to Martha’s Rule to alter medical culture: to give patients a little more power, to encourage listening on the part of medical professionals, and to normalise the idea that even the grandest of doctors should welcome being challenged.
“We call on all NHS clinicians to back the initiative: we know that the large majority do listen, are open with patients and never complacent – but Martha’s doctors worked in a different culture, so some situations need to change.
“Our daughter was quite something: fun and determined, with a vast appetite for life and so many plans and ambitions – we’ll never know what she would have achieved with all her talents.
“Hers was a preventable death but Martha’s Rule will mean that she didn’t die completely in vain.”
The Welsh Government confirmed it was working on implementing a similar system in Wales.
A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to ensuring the voices of patients and their loved ones are heard and are working with NHS organisations to develop a plan on how we introduce a similar system in Wales.
“A few similar pilot schemes are being tested by health boards in Wales.”