Recommendations from Martha's Rule
Three recommendations made by the Patient Safety Commissioner on 20 October 2023, calling for a structured daily approach to obtaining patient and family information, and 24/7 access to critical care outreach teams for both staff and patients/families. Named after Martha Mills, who died aged 13 in 2021 after her family's concerns went unheeded. All three recommendations were accepted by the Government and trialled in 143 sites across England.
Recommendations
We must implement a structured approach to obtain information relating to a patient's conditions directly from patients and their families at least on a daily basis. In the first instance this will cover all in-patients in acute and specialist Trusts.
All staff in those Trusts must have 24/7 access to a rapid review from a critical care outreach team who they can contact should they have concerns about a patient.
All patients, their families, carers and advocates must also have access to the same 24/7 rapid review from a critical care outreach team which they can contact via mechanisms advertised around the hospital and more widely if they are worried about the patient's condition.