A major new patient safety initiative – Martha’s Rule – has been rolled out across Bedford Hospital and the Luton & Dunstable University Hospital.
Chosen as one of 16 Trusts in the East of England, and 143 nationally, to implement Martha’s Rule, a pilot began in December of last year to embed the new principles into clinical practice.
Over the last six months Martha’s Rule has been introduced across all adult inpatient wards at both our hospitals, with Children’s Services beginning their pilot in the first week of July.
Martha’s Rule takes its name from 13 year old Martha Mills who died in hospital after developing sepsis, following a bicycle accident. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to, and in 2023, a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.
The three components of Martha’s Rule are:
- Patients will be asked, at least daily, about how they are feeling, and if they are getting better or worse, and this information will be acted on in a structured way.
- All staff will be able, at any time, to ask for a review from a different team if they are concerned that a patient is deteriorating, and they are not being responded to.
- This escalation route will also always be available to patients themselves, their families and carers, and advertised across the hospital.
Martha’s Rule gives healthcare staff, patients and their families a clear pathway to raise concerns about rapid deterioration.
It involves staff asking, listening, recording and acting on any changes in condition reported by patients or their loved ones, and allows them to request a review from a different team if they notice any deterioration in the patient’s condition that is not being addressed by the local care team.
ED, Maternity and Neonatal services have not been included in the first phase of the national rollout but conversations are now beginning as to how provision can be made in these areas.
For more information visit our website https://www.bedfordshirehospitals.nhs.uk/patients-visitors/marthas-rule/
