Martha’s Rule has the potential to strengthen patient safety by ensuring that patients and families have a clear route to raise concerns when a patient’s condition is deteriorating
Darren Ashcroft
The NIHR Greater Manchester PSRC, alongside researchers from the universities of Leicester and Manchester, will play a key role on the qualitative and health economic workstreams of the Martha’s Rule evaluation, including how patients, families and staff are supported and empowered to speak up for safety and raise concerns about care.
The qualitative workstream of the evaluation will be co-led by Professor Nicola Mackintosh with support from Dr Liz Sutton, from the University of Leicester’s Division of Public Health and Epidemiology. Together they have a portfolio of related work conducted over the past 10 years in patient and family involvement in safety, and in the design of safety tools to enable the rescue of deteriorating patients on hospital wards.
Professor Mackintosh said: “We know that patients and family members can play a central role in contributing to timely management of deterioration. Martha’s Rule offers a way for their voices to be routinely heard. The qualitative workstream will enable us to understand how Martha’s Rule is being implemented across different settings, its influence on local cultures of safety, and factors that shape equitable provision of Martha’s Rule for all.”
The Martha’s Rule evaluation also draws on health economics expertise from the NIHR Greater Manchester PSRC team, led by Professor Rachel Elliott and Dr Thomas Allen from The University of Manchester. The evaluation will help determine the cost implications and economic benefits for hospitals implementing Martha’s rule.
Professor Darren Ashcroft, Director of the NIHR Greater Manchester PSRC, said: “Martha’s Rule has the potential to strengthen patient safety by ensuring that patients and families have a clear route to raise concerns when a patient’s condition is deteriorating. This evaluation is an important opportunity to understand how the policy is being implemented in practice, what works well, and where further improvements may be needed. By drawing on our expertise in qualitative research and health economics, we are delighted to contribute to this important national study and help build the evidence needed to support safer care for patients and families.”
Concerns raised by Merope Mills, the mother of Martha, over her daughter’s hospital care at the time were not listened to and a coroner later ruled that Martha would probably have survived if she had been transferred earlier to intensive care and given appropriate treatment.
Source: University of Leicester