More than 10,000 calls were made to Martha’s Rule helplines in the first 16 months of the NHS scheme, helping save lives and prompting improvements in care.
New NHS England data shows 10,119 escalation calls were made between September 2024 and December 2025. One in three calls (34%, 3,457) identified rapid deterioration in a patient’s condition. Those calls led to changes in treatment for 1,885 patients, including 446 transfers to higher levels of care that were potentially life‑saving.
Over 6,000 calls raised clinical, communication or coordination concerns, leading to meaningful improvements in care or better system navigation for patients and families. Calls to the helplines have more than doubled since June 2024 (4,911) as rollout accelerated. All adult and paediatric acute inpatient sites in the NHS are now in the process of implementing Martha’s Rule, and hospitals have run awareness campaigns with posters and other materials to normalise its use.
Martha’s mum, Merope Mills, said the data shows a hugely positive effect: beyond lives saved, more than a third of calls have produced marked improvements in care. She said the process is not being overused, gives patients and families real agency, and called for thorough implementation in maternity services and rapid introduction in Wales and Scotland.
Dr Aidan Fowler, NHS England’s National Director of Patient Safety, said Martha’s Rule is helping save lives and change NHS culture, noting the 10,000 calls and over 400 potentially life‑saving interventions as evidence that families’ concerns are being heard and acted on.
Martha Mills died in 2021 aged 13 after developing sepsis in hospital following a fall. Her family’s concerns about deterioration were not responded to; in 2022 a coroner concluded Martha would probably have survived if moved to intensive care earlier. Following campaigning by Martha’s parents, NHS England began implementing Martha’s Rule in February 2024 and announced a rollout across 143 pilot sites in May 2024.
Martha’s Rule asks staff to use a structured approach to gather daily information from patients and families about a patient’s condition, encourages patients, families and carers to speak up about changes they notice, and provides a route to request an urgent review if deterioration is not being addressed. Staff can also escalate to a different team if they believe appropriate action is not being taken.
The rollout has been driven by Martha’s parents, NHS staff across the country, NHS England, and the Health Innovation Network’s Patient Safety Collaboratives.
