More than 400 lives may have been saved as a result of Martha’s rule, which lets NHS patients request a review of their care, official figures reveal.
Helplines received more than 10,000 calls in the first 16 months of the scheme after its introduction in England in 2024, according to data seen by the Guardian. Thousands of patients were either moved to intensive care, received drugs they needed or benefited from other changes as a direct result of the calls.
The system is named after Martha Mills, 13, who died in 2021 from sepsis after a bicycle accident. A coroner found she would probably have survived if she had been moved to the intensive care unit at King’s College hospital in London when she began deteriorating.
Martha’s rule helplines received 10,119 calls between September 2024 and December 2025 from patients, relatives or staff who were worried about care, the figures show. That led to 446 people receiving improvements to their care that may have saved their life.
One in three calls (3,457) identified a rapid worsening of a patient’s condition, helping raise the alarm more quickly and enable crucial interventions to be made. The NHS England data shows 1,885 patients had their treatment changed as a result.
In addition, about 6,000 calls had addressed clinical, communication or coordination concerns, which led to “meaningful improvements” in care or navigating the healthcare system for patients and their families, health officials said.
Source: The Guardian, 8 March 2026
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