\n Wirral University Teaching Hospital is one of 19 sites in the North West to pilot Martha\u2019s Rule, a patient safety initiative that gives patients, families and carers the right to request a rapid clinical review if they believe a patient\u2019s condition is not being adequately addressed.\n<\/p>\n
\n The scheme was launched following the tragic death of 13-year-old Martha Mills, who died from sepsis in 2021 after a cycling accident.\n<\/p>\n
\n An inquest found that Martha would likely have survived if she had been moved to intensive care sooner.\n<\/p>\n
\n In response, Martha\u2019s parents, Merope Mills and Paul Laity, campaigned for a formal mechanism to escalate patient care concerns.\n<\/p>\n
\n Merope Mills and Paul Laity said: “It would be Martha\u2019s 18th birthday today, another milestone she has missed as a result of the poor care and hospital errors that led to her unnecessary death.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We feel her absence every day, but at least Martha\u2019s Rule is already preventing many families from experiencing something similar.\n<\/p>\n
\n “The figures prove that lives are saved when patients and families are given power to act on their suspicions when they feel doctors might have got it wrong and their voice isn\u2019t being heard.\n<\/p>\n
\n “We are pleased to know more hospitals are taking up Martha\u2019s Rule and look forward to a time when every patient in the UK knows about the initiative and has easy access to it.”\n<\/p>\n
\n The rule was piloted at 143 sites across England between September 2024 and June 2025, including Wirral University Teaching Hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n During the pilot, 4,906 calls were made to Martha\u2019s Rule helplines, resulting in 241 potentially life-saving interventions.\n<\/p>\n
\n Of all calls, 71.9 per cent were made by families.\n<\/p>\n
\n Dr Redmond Tully, consultant in intensive care at the Royal Oldham Hospital, said: “When it comes to keeping patients safe, we can\u2019t offer enough routes for patients, relatives and colleagues to speak up if they\u2019re worried.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Thanks to Martha\u2019s Rule, we\u2019ve been able to intervene earlier in some cases.”\n<\/p>\n
\n Janelle Holmes, chief executive at Wirral University Teaching Hospital, said: “We are pleased to be one of the 143 pilot sites for Martha\u2019s Rule across the country.\n<\/p>\n
\n “This important initiative empowers patients and their loved ones to be true partners in their care.\n<\/p>\n
\n “Martha\u2019s Rule is now in place in all in-patient areas across Arrowe Park Hospital.\n<\/p>\n
\n “A dedicated 24\/7 phone line went live in April 2025, and the number is clearly displayed on posters throughout the hospital. Further information is also\u00a0on our website and social media channels.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wirral University Teaching Hospital is one of 19 sites in the North West to pilot Martha\u2019s Rule, a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":132817,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[102,2960,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-132816","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom","12":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132816","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132816"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132816\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132817"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132816"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132816"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132816"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}