As things stand, hospital patients in England have no legal right to a second medical opinion. But that could soon change, as a campaign to give patients formal entitlement to an urgent second opinion is gathering momentum and gaining support from key figures, including those in government as well as the NHS England Ombudsman. The proposal, called Martha’s rule, is named after a young girl whose life might have been saved by it.
In 2021, 13-year-old Martha Mills died following an injury she sustained while on holiday with her family. Martha was treated at King’s College Hospital in London, where she developed life-threatening sepsis. The inquest following Martha’s death found it was avoidable, and that she would have survived were it not for tragic failures in the medical care she received. These failures included doctors withholding important information about Martha’s condition from her parents and ignoring their concerns.
