Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (WWL) is pleased to announce that it has begun to roll out the next phase of patient safety measures following the introduction of ‘Martha’s Rule’ in April 2024.
Having been chosen by NHS England (NHSE) as one of the 143 NHS Trusts in England for a pilot scheme, WWL, has already introduced a patient wellness questionnaire to all adult inpatient areas at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary (RAEI), where patients are asked how they feel today, and how they feel compared to yesterday, to monitor any unexpected changes in their condition.
Now, the Trust has also introduced the next phase of Martha’s Rule to help spot any unexpected signs of deterioration early and give families and loved ones the right to request a rapid review if they are worried that a patient’s condition is getting worse, by calling a team who specialise in the care of critically ill patients.
Laura Jenions, Critical Care Outreach Practitioner, who is leading the project said: “Your call will go to a different team in our hospital, who will work with you or your loved one's care team to arrange any treatment needed or further review. The service will be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week and will initially be rolled out to our surgical patients before it is safely opened up across all inpatient areas during the Summer.”
In 2021, Martha Mills, a paediatric patient died after developing sepsis in hospital in England, following a pancreatic injury after falling off her bike. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not responded to promptly, and in 2023 a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived had she been moved to Intensive Care earlier.
In response to this and other cases related to the management of deterioration, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHSE committed to implement ‘Martha’s Rule’ to ensure the vitally important concerns of the patient and those who know the patient best are listened to and acted upon.
Prof. Sanjay Arya, WWL’s Medical Director also spoke on the ‘Martha’s Rule’ pilot commenting: “I would like to thank all of my colleagues at WWL who have been involved in bringing the ‘Martha’s Rule’ pilot to the Trust. This scheme will undoubtedly improve outcomes for our patients and will help save lives and I look forward to seeing how it develops within our Trust.”
For more information on Martha's Rule, visit our dedicated webpage here