Martha’s rule must be available 24/7, England’s patient safety commissioner says

Patients and their relatives will be able to request a second opinion from senior medics around the clock when the “Martha’s rule” system starts in hospitals in England.

The government’s patient safety commissioner, asked by the health secretary, Steve Barclay, to advise on how to implement the change, has said access to a medic’s opinion must operate 24/7.

Dr Henrietta Hughes made clear to Barclay in a letter that inpatients and families worried that their loved one’s health is deteriorating should be able to seek a second opinion at any time of day or night.

In her letter, which she published on Wednesday, Hughes also said the availability of that service must be widely advertised in hospitals, so patients know they can use it.

She told Barclay that all staff in acute and specialist medical NHS trusts in England “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”.

Hughes added: “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. This is Martha’s rule.”

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Source: The Guardian, 3 November 2023