Turning concern into action: the practicalities of Martha's Rule
Notter, Joy and Carter, Chris and Datson, Kirsty and Harris, Kirsty and Li, Claudia and Hodgkiss, Daniel (2026) Turning concern into action: the practicalities of Martha's Rule. British Journal of Nursing, 35 (19). pp. 934-935. ISSN 0966-0461
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Abstract
Martha's Rule has now been introduced to all 210 acute NHS hospitals in England and provides patients, families and staff with a formal mechanism to rapidly access an independent expert review (Graham et al, 2025). It was introduced following the tragic case of Martha Mills, who died from sepsis in 2021 after her family had repeatedly tried to raise concerns, which were not acted on by health professionals. In consequence, Martha's Rule was designed to address the challenges faced by patients and families but also staff who want to escalate concerns and is being led by the Patient Safety Team at NHS England. Here, we discuss some of the key issues relating to the practicalities of the implementation of Martha's Rule.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Identification Number: | 10.12968/bjon.2026.0287 |
| Dates: | Date Event 17 August 2026 Accepted 22 October 2026 Published Online |
| Subjects: | CAH02 - subjects allied to medicine > CAH02-04 - nursing and midwifery > CAH02-04-02 - adult nursing |
| Divisions: | Nursing and Midwifery > Adult Nursing |
| Depositing User: | Gemma Tonks |
| Date Deposited: | 04 Nov 2026 09:49 |
| Last Modified: | 04 Nov 2026 09:49 |
| URI: | https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/id/eprint/17292 |
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