Patients and their families will be able to call for an urgent review in A&E if they’re worried someone’s condition is getting worse and their concerns aren’t being heard.
Martha’s Rule, created after 13-year-old Martha Mills passed away, is now being extended to A&E departments, with the phased rollout due to be completed by March 2028.
The rule, which is already being introduced on hospital wards across England, gives patients, relatives and staff access to a phone number they can use to request an urgent review if they’re concerned a patient’s condition is deteriorating.
The move follows an eight-month pilot involving seven NHS trusts. NHS England said 69 calls were made, with some patients needing surgery or being transferred to intensive care.
Professor Aidan Fowler, national director of patient safety at NHS England, said the ability to raise concerns quickly and trigger a review of care was ‘essential’.
He added that Martha’s Rule was already having a ‘transformative effect in making our acute care even safer’.
Health minister baroness Merron said: ‘Martha’s Rule is about making sure patients and their loved ones are heard when they raise concerns about their care.
‘Expanding it to A&E will give patients, families and staff another way to speak up when they are worried that someone’s condition is getting worse, ensuring concerns are acted on quickly.’
Maternity and neonatal units are also expected to adopt Martha’s Rule by March 2028.
In July 2026, 1,678 calls were made through Martha’s Rule – the highest monthly total since the scheme was introduced.
Merope mills and Paul Laity – Martha’s parents – campaigned for the rule after their daughter lost her life in hospital in 2021. Martha developed sepsis while being treated at King’s College hospital in south London and a coroner later rules that she wouldn’t have died if she’d been admitted to intensive care sooner.
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