Martha’s Rule: New patient safety initiative rolled out at Luton and Dunstable Hospital

The trust has been chosen as one of 16 in the East of England, to use Martha's Rule – a project which began in December.

For the past six months, adult wards in the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital have been given guidance on how to understand patients better by asking them questions about their care.

The rule was named after Martha Mills, a 13-year-old who died in hospital after developing sepsis.

In 2021, Martha had a bicycle accident but her family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to while she was being treated in the hospital.

In 2023, a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.

The rule will now mean that patients will be asked, at least daily, about how they are feeling, and if they are getting better or worse.

This information will then be acted on in a “structured way”.

At any time, staff can ask for another team to review their patient if they are “concerned that a patient is deteriorating, and they are not being responded to”.

Finally, the escalation route will also “always be available to patients themselves, their families and carers, and advertised across the hospital”.