‘Martha’s rule’ granting urgent second opinion to be adopted in 100 English hospitals

Martha Mills, 13, died of sepsis in King’s College hospital, London. An inquest heard that she would probably have survived if she had been moved to intensive care sooner. Photograph: Mills/Laity family photograph/PA

Patients whose health is failing will be granted the right to obtain an urgent second opinion about their care, as “Martha’s rule” is initially adopted in 100 English hospitals from April at the start of a national rollout.

The initiative will allow patients and their loved ones to get a review of their condition and treatment directly from doctors and nurses not involved in the medical team treating them.