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BBC News
09-06-2025
- Health
- BBC News
Martha Mills doctor's failings 'particularly grave'
The failings of a doctor responsible for Martha Mills' care, who died from sepsis, amounted to "gross negligence" and were "particularly grave", a medical tribunal death gave rise to Martha's Rule in hundreds of hospitals in England, giving parents the right to an urgent second tribunal found consultant Prof Richard Thompson failed to appreciate how seriously ill 13-year-old Martha had become in the summer of 2021, following a bike the crucial afternoon, he did not examine her in person or send her to intensive tribunal concluded Prof Thompson's fitness to practise is impaired, but whether he will be sanctioned is still to be decided. Martha was transferred to King's College Hospital in London in 2021, one of three specialist treatment centres in the UK, after a holiday bike accident left her with serious injuries to her pancreas. Her parents, Merope Mills and Paul Laity, wrote about their pain and anger over their daughter's treatment following her a family holiday, Martha had skidded on some sand and fell heavily on to the handlebars."It was a difficult, tricky injury, but it did not have to be a fatal one," Merope has she stayed in the hospital for the next developed an infection and then signs of sepsis - when the body's response to an infection is overwhelming and ends up injuring its own tissues and organs - but this was not managed inquest found that she could have survived her injuries if she'd been referred to the specialist children's intensive care in the hospital promptly, and received better on BBC Radio 4's Today programme in 2023, Merope Mills said her family were not listened to by senior doctors on several occasions and were "not given the full picture" about Martha's deteriorating condition. Over the past few weeks, the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service has heard allegations from the doctors' regulator, the General Medical Council (GMC), that Prof Thompson failed on several counts over his care of was the consultant on call on her ward on 29 August 2021 - two days before she tribunal said it was "evident" that by around 17:00 that day Martha had "several high risk indicators" including her heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and a rising temperature, which "indicated a sudden and significant deterioration".It said Martha's condition, which included a new rash, justified her being moved to intensive care but "this opportunity was not taken".Later that evening, Prof Thompson was called at home by a colleague about Martha's continued fever. He had already seen her on his morning ward round, but did not return to the hospital to examine her in Thompson has said one of the reasons he wanted to keep Martha on his ward was not to distress her parents, but the tribunal said this did not justify withholding or delaying her move to intensive Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service has now decided that Prof Richard Thompson's fitness to practise had been tribunal said this would reassure the public and send a message to doctors about the importance of following the fundamental principles of good care. Martha's parents raised concerns about their daughter's care to the regulator, the General Medical Council, in to the tribunal's findings Martha's parents said: "It is important to us that allegations denied have been found proved and the gravity of mistakes that led to our daughter's preventable death has been recognised. "We will always have in our minds the failures of culture, training and policy on Rays of Sunshine Ward at King's College Hospital, as well as the responsibility of individuals. "We'd like to thank all the thoughtful doctors who have helped us to understand what happened to Martha."The hospital that looked after Martha has admitted mistakes were made, and the trust said previously in a statement that it "remains deeply sorry that we failed Martha when she needed us most".
The Guardian
09-06-2025
- Health
- The Guardian
Doctor guilty of misconduct over case of girl, 13, whose death led to Martha's rule
A senior doctor has been found guilty of 'misconduct which impairs his fitness to practise' in relation to his treatment of a 13-year-old girl whose death led to the adoption of Martha's rule. The disciplinary panel reached its decision having determined that Prof Richard Thompson failed to escalate the treatment of Martha Mills to an intensive care unit or to conduct a direct in-person review and assessment, including of a newly developed rash. On Monday, Robin Ince, the chair of the panel at the Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service (MPTS), in Manchester, said that Thompson's failings 'were particularly grave and therefore amounted to misconduct'. The tribunal will reconvene on Tuesday to consider whether Thompson should face a sanction and, if so, what that should be. The findings relate to 29 August 2021, when the specialist in paediatric liver disease was the on-duty consultant at King's College hospital (KCH), although he was on-call at home for part of the day. Martha died two days later at Great Ormond Street hospital, having been transferred from KCH where she had contracted sepsis. In 2022, a coroner ruled she would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs of her rapidly deteriorating condition and transferred her to intensive care earlier, which her parents had asked doctors to do. After her parents, Merope Mills, a senior editor at the Guardian, and her husband, Paul Laity, spoke out about their experience, Martha's rule was introduced, which gives the right to a second medical opinion in English hospitals. Ince said of Thompson's actions on 29 August 2021: 'The tribunal was of the view that, as more serious and unexplained factors had come into play, there were clear points (at 17.00 and 20.30) when Prof Thompson should have taken action not only to see Martha himself but also to refer Martha to PICU (paediatric intensive care unit) and these combined failures to do so makes them more serious. 'The tribunal appreciated that it was assisted by hindsight but concluded that there were sufficient adverse clinical indicators at the time of something unexplained going on such that direct review and escalation to PICU was required.' He said that there was 'no sound reason' for Thompson not taking the required actions – better informing himself of Martha's condition by direct observation and obtaining a third-party opinion – as they were not risky but to the contrary 'the real risk lay in the greater possibility of a serious outcome if he did not do these things'. Ince continued: 'Taking all these factors into account, the tribunal was of the view that Prof Thompson's omissions were 'particularly grave' and essentially amounted to gross negligence about the serious risk of harm to patients (albeit only on this one occasion) and were sufficiently serious in any event such as to amount to misconduct.' Martha's parents said in a statement: 'It is important to us that allegations denied have been found proved and the gravity of mistakes that led to our daughter's preventable death has been recognised. We will always have in our minds the failures of culture, training and policy on Rays of Sunshine ward at King's College hospital, as well as the responsibility of individuals. We'd like to thank all of the thoughtful doctors who have helped us to understand what happened to Martha.' Ince said the panel had concluded that Thompson had 'remediated' such that it was 'highly unlikely that anything like this will ever happen again and there is no current impairment of Prof Thompson's fitness to practise on this basis'. However, he added: 'The tribunal concluded that the misconduct was such that a finding of impairment was required to uphold public confidence in the profession as well as uphold proper professional standards, and that it would be undermined if no finding of impairment were found.' Martha, who sustained an injury to her pancreas when she fell off her bike on holiday in Wales, was transferred to intensive care at KCH on 30 August 2021 by which time she had septic shock, according to a serious incident report produced for the hospital.
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Parental intuition better at spotting child illness than vital signs, study finds
Parental intuition is more likely to predict critical illness among children than vital signs used to monitor health, according to a study that strengthens the case for families to have a right to a second opinion under Martha's rule being piloted in the NHS. Experts from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, said parents should be treated as part of a child's care team in hospital after data on almost 190,000 emergency hospital visits involving children. The researchers found that prenatal concern was associated with a higher likelihood the child would need to be given help to breathe, or mechanical ventilation. The research, published in the Lancet's journal on Child and Adolescent Health, noted that in almost one in five cases (19.3%) parents raised concerns about deterioration before vital signs indicated that the child was deteriorating. It comes after the tragic case of Martha Mills, who developed sepsis after an injuring her pancreas when she fell off her bike. She died in 2021 when doctors ignored repeatedly the concerns of her parents about her deterioration while in hospital. A coroner ruled she would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs of her rapidly deteriorating condition and transferred her to intensive care earlier. A campaign by Martha's mother, Merope Mills, an editor at the Guardian, and her father, Paul Laity, led NHS hospitals to pilot Martha's rule, which gives patients and their loved ones the right to an urgent review of treatment. Last December, NHS England data showed the rule was having a 'transformative effect' in improving patient safety. In the Melbourne study, parents and carers were routinely asked: 'Are you worried your child is getting worse?' In 4.7% of cases parents said they were concerned their child was deteriorating. The research team found that parents' and carers' concerns were 'significantly' linked to the child being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). When parents raised concerns, children were four times more likely to need ICU care, compared with children of parents who did not express concern. They also found that parental concern was more strongly associated with ICU admission than abnormal vital signs were – including abnormal heart rate, abnormal breathing or blood pressure. This could mean that taking parents' views into account could lead to earlier treatment, they added. Overall, they found that children of caregivers who voiced concerns were 'more unwell, they were more likely to be admitted to an inpatient ward, and stayed in hospital almost three times as long'. One of the lead authors of the paper, Dr Erin Mills, from Monash University's School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, said: 'We know that parents are the experts in their children, but stories of parents not being heard, followed by devastating outcomes, are all too common. We wanted to change that.' She added: 'If a parent said they were worried, their child was around four times more likely to require intensive care. That's a signal we can't afford to ignore. 'Parents are not visitors – they are part of the care team. We want every hospital to recognise that and give parents permission, and power, to speak up.'
The Guardian
30-05-2025
- General
- The Guardian
Parental intuition better at spotting child illness than vital signs, study finds
Parental intuition is more likely to predict critical illness among children than vital signs used to monitor health, according to a study that strengthens the case for families to have a right to a second opinion under Martha's rule being piloted in the NHS. Experts from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, said parents should be treated as part of a child's care team in hospital after data on almost 190,000 emergency hospital visits involving children. The researchers found that prenatal concern was associated with a higher likelihood the child would need to be given help to breathe, or mechanical ventilation. The research, published in the Lancet's journal on Child and Adolescent Health, noted that in almost one in five cases (19.3%) parents raised concerns about deterioration before vital signs indicated that the child was deteriorating. It comes after the tragic case of Martha Mills, who developed sepsis after an injuring her pancreas when she fell off her bike. She died in 2021 when doctors ignored repeatedly the concerns of her parents about her deterioration while in hospital. A coroner ruled she would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs of her rapidly deteriorating condition and transferred her to intensive care earlier. A campaign by Martha's mother, Merope Mills, an editor at the Guardian, and her father, Paul Laity, led NHS hospitals to pilot Martha's rule, which gives patients and their loved ones the right to an urgent review of treatment. Last December, NHS England data showed the rule was having a 'transformative effect' in improving patient safety. In the Melbourne study, parents and carers were routinely asked: 'Are you worried your child is getting worse?' In 4.7% of cases parents said they were concerned their child was deteriorating. The research team found that parents' and carers' concerns were 'significantly' linked to the child being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). When parents raised concerns, children were four times more likely to need ICU care, compared with children of parents who did not express concern. They also found that parental concern was more strongly associated with ICU admission than abnormal vital signs were – including abnormal heart rate, abnormal breathing or blood pressure. This could mean that taking parents' views into account could lead to earlier treatment, they added. Overall, they found that children of caregivers who voiced concerns were 'more unwell, they were more likely to be admitted to an inpatient ward, and stayed in hospital almost three times as long'. One of the lead authors of the paper, Dr Erin Mills, from Monash University's School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, said: 'We know that parents are the experts in their children, but stories of parents not being heard, followed by devastating outcomes, are all too common. We wanted to change that.' She added: 'If a parent said they were worried, their child was around four times more likely to require intensive care. That's a signal we can't afford to ignore. 'Parents are not visitors – they are part of the care team. We want every hospital to recognise that and give parents permission, and power, to speak up.'
Telegraph
29-05-2025
- General
- Telegraph
Parental intuition can predict child's serious illness before doctor's tests
Parents can sense when their child is becoming seriously ill before their vital signs show it, according to new research. Experts found that in about one in five cases where a child's health worsened while in hospital, parents raised concerns before doctors became aware. Parental intuition was a better indicator of a child needing intensive care than vital readings including heart rate and abnormal breathing, the study found. It comes after the NHS introduced Martha's Rule last year giving patients, including parents, the right to ask for a second opinion. The protocol is named after Martha Mills, who died aged 13 in 2021 from sepsis. Martha's parents, Merope Mills and Paul Laity, raised concerns about their daughter's deteriorating health to doctors on a number of occasions after she was admitted to hospital with a pancreatic injury caused by falling off her bike. A coroner ruled she would most likely have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs of her rapidly worsening condition and transferred her to intensive care earlier. Data from 190,000 hospital admissions For the new study, experts from Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, analysed data from almost 190,000 emergency hospital visits. Parents or caregivers were routinely asked: 'Are you worried your child is getting worse?' In almost five per cent of cases, parents said they were concerned their child was deteriorating. The research team found that this concern was 'significantly' linked to the child being admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU). Children were found to be four times more likely to need ICU admission if parents had raised concerns, compared with children of parents who were not concerned. Researchers also found that parental concern was associated with a higher likelihood that the child would need mechanical ventilation or to be given help to breathe. Parents could prompt earlier treatment The study, published in the journal Lancet Child and Adolescent Health, also found that 'caregiver concern was more strongly associated with ICU admission than any abnormal vital sign', including abnormal heart rate, abnormal breathing or blood pressure. There were 1,900 cases where parental concern was documented along with the timing of abnormal vital signs. The research team noted that in almost one in five cases parents raised concerns about deterioration before vital signs indicated that the child was deteriorating. They added that this could mean that taking parents' views into account could lead to earlier treatment. 'Parents are the experts' Overall, they found that the children of caregivers who voiced concerns were 'more unwell, they were more likely to be admitted to an inpatient ward, and stayed in hospital almost three times as long'. Dr Erin Mills, a lead author from Monash University, said: 'We know that parents are the experts in their children, but stories of parents not being heard, followed by devastating outcomes, are all too common. We wanted to change that.' She said: 'We wanted to test whether parent input could help us identify deterioration earlier – and it can. 'If a parent said they were worried, their child was around four times more likely to require intensive care. That's a signal we can't afford to ignore 'Parents are not visitors – they are part of the care team. We want every hospital to recognise that and give parents permission, and power, to speak up.' In March the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee was told that thousands of patients or their loved ones have sought a second opinion about their NHS care under Martha's Rule. More than 100 patients have been taken to intensive care 'or equivalent' as a result.
