Martha's Rule is a patient safety initiative that gives patients who are in hospital and their families the right to ask for a review with a different team if they’re worried that a health condition is getting worse, and their concerns are not being listened to.
It is named after Martha Mills who died of sepsis in a London hospital in 2021, despite her parents expressing serious concerns about their daughter’s condition. Martha’s Rule aims to prevent similar tragedies.
If you are a patient on one of our adult or children’s wards, and you are worried that your condition is getting worse, please tell the ward team looking after you.
If you are still worried after advice from your ward team, you can ring the Martha’s Rule service to ask for a review with a different team.
Your family members/loved ones can also call Martha’s Rule on your behalf if they are worried you are getting worse, and they feel they are not being listened to.
Martha’s Rule is a patient safety service, designed for medical concerns about children, young people and adult inpatients only.
If you need help in an emergency, telling a nurse or doctor on the ward team is the quickest way to get help.
If your concern relates to an outpatient, please speak with the nurse in charge of the area.
This service should not be used to report general problems regarding a patient’s care, for example, issues with the hospital bed, room, food, parking etc.
The Patient Advice and Liaison Service (PALS) can provide help and support for non-urgent matters, complaints and feedback. For more information, visit our PALS service page.
We aim to answer your call, but please leave a message if asked to and a senior nurse will ring you back as soon as they can. We will need to know the following information:
The Martha’s Rule service is manned by members of our medical emergency response teams or Out of Hours team.
The team will assess the situation, and if appropriate they will visit the patient to discuss concerns and take any action required. They will also speak to the patient’s medical and nursing teams as necessary and update you on any next steps.
You can call our Martha’s Rule service from any phone on: