Merope Mills awarded CBE in king’s honours list for Martha’s rule campaign

In 2022, a coroner ruled Martha would probably have survived if doctors had not failed to identify and properly treat sepsis she contracted while in hospital. Photograph: Courtesy of Merope Mills View image in fullscreen In 2022, a coroner ruled Martha would probably have survived if doctors had not failed to identify and properly treat sepsis she contracted while in hospital. Photograph: Courtesy of Merope Mills Merope Mills awarded CBE in king’s honours list for Martha’s rule campaign Journalist and healthcare campaigner was driving force behind patient safety initiative after death of 13-year-old daughter The healthcare campaigner and journalist Merope Mills has been made a CBE in the king’s birthday honours list for services to patient safety. Mills, a senior editor at the Guardian, was a driving force behind the introduction of an initiative in England said to have potentially saved hundreds of lives . She has spent years campaigning for the introduction of Martha’s rule under which patients, relatives and staff can seek a second opinion if they have concerns about the care being provided. She said: “This is recognition for a campaign fought not just by me but also my husband, Paul, with the help of many excellent doctors and nurses who helped make Martha’s rule a reality. They knew it was time we saw a shift in the power dynamic in hospitals, and a real chance to give patients and their families more of a voice at the time they need it most.” ‘I am invoking Martha’s rule’: how a woman saved her father from near death in hospital Read more Mills took action after the death of her 13-year-old daughter Martha – after whom the rule is named – in 2021 because of failures to identify and properly treat a case of sepsis that developed while she was in King’s College hospital in London. In 2022, a coroner ruled Martha probably would have survived had doctors identified the warning signs and transferred her to intensive care earlier. Martha suffered a laceration to her pancreas in what initially appeared to be a minor accident while cycling. She was transferred to the hospital in south London because it is one of three national centres for the care of children with pancreatic trauma. Her condition was not thought to be life-threatening. She developed sepsis, though that too could have been treated. Her parents said their concerns over her deteriorating health were not heeded, with doctors instead trying to reassure them even as Martha’s condition worsened. Nursing staff privately acknowledged she was at risk of death. Along with Martha’s father, Paul Laity, Mills began advocating the system under which people can now call a hospital-run helpline with their concerns, and seek a “rapid review”. Mills added: “There is still so much that can be done to make our healthcare safer. The number of preventable deaths like Martha’s remains shockingly high. Apart from the devastation it causes families like ours, it costs the NHS billions in compensation and tr