Hospital brings in 'second opinion' Martha's Rule

Martha Mills might have survived had she been moved to intensive care

A hospital is adopting a service which gives patients and families the right to an urgent second opinion following the death of a 13-year-old girl who was not admitted to intensive care.

Martha Mills damaged her pancreas during a cycle ride while on holiday in Wales in August 2021. A coroner ruled she probably would have survived but she developed sepsis and died at a London hospital, despite concerns being raised about her deteriorating condition.

After a campaign by her family, Martha's Rule has been rolled out as the Call for Concern service across NHS hospitals, with Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital bringing it in as of Monday.

The hospital said the service acted as "an additional safety net", with a dedicated telephone number.

The hospital said anyone with ongoing concerns could get support as quickly as possible

'Identify early signs'

It is run by the "recognise and respond team" of nurses specialising in the care of very unwell patients and patients recovering from critical illness.

The team can be called on for support when there are concerns over a patient's condition getting worse, the hospital said.

Alanna Forrester, the team's clinical nurse lead, said all adult in-patients had had access to a rapid review from a critical care outreach team since 2021.

“We are aware that patients, their relatives, or carers are often the best people to identify the early signs of someone getting more unwell," she added.

"This service aims to ensure that if there are ongoing concerns a patient is getting worse after having spoken to the ward nurse or doctor, they are able to get support as quickly as possible from a specialist team."

This system empowers them to escalate these concerns, allowing the RRT to work alongside ward teams to provide the best possible care.”

Call for Concern is initially being adopted for all adult in-patients, relatives and carers, and will be adopted to cover paediatrics, maternity, emergency department and out-patient services over the next 12 months, the hospital said.

The James Paget Hospital in Gorleston implemented the scheme in April, with the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in King's Lynn adopting Call for Concern last year, with plans to expand it under Martha's Rule to include paediatrics.