Senior doctor accused of failures in case that gave rise to Martha’s rule

A senior doctor has been accused of wrongly failing to escalate the care of a 13-year-old girl whose death led to the adoption of Martha’s rule, which gives the right to a second medical opinion in hospitals.

At a disciplinary tribunal in Manchester, Prof Richard Thompson was also said to have provided a colleague with “false and misleading information” about the condition of Martha Mills.

Martha died on 31 August 2021 at King’s College hospital (KCH) in south London after contracting sepsis. In 2022, a coroner ruled that she would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs of her rapidly deteriorating condition and transferred her to intensive care earlier, which her parents had asked doctors to do.

Thompson, a specialist in paediatric liver disease, and the on-duty consultant – although he was on call at home – on 29 August 2021, is accused by the General Medical Council (GMC) of misconduct that impairs his fitness to practise.

Opening the GMC’s case at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service on Monday, Christopher Rose said, based on a review of the case by Dr Stephen Playfor, a medical examiner at Manchester Royal Infirmary, Thompson:

• Should have taken more “aggressive intervention” between noon and 1pm on 29 August, including referring Martha to the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
• Should have gone into the hospital from about 5pm to carry out an in-person assessment of a rash Martha had developed.
• Gave “false, outdated and misleading information” in a phone call at approximately 9.40pm to Dr Akash Deep in the PICU team.

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Source: The Guardian, 19 May 2025