Martha’s Rule will need 24/7 escalation systems

Martha Mills who died aged 13. Mills/Laity family photograph

NHS doctors and their patients' families should have 24/7 access to a rapid review from a critical care outreach team if they are worried about a patient's condition, according to a senior government adviser.

These would deliver the so-called Martha’s Rule and would be available both to staff and to patients and their families, according to Dr Henrietta Hughes, the Patient Safety Commissioner.