Merope Mills awarded CBE for Martha's Rule campaign

Merope Mills, a senior editor at The Guardian and healthcare campaigner, has been awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the King's birthday honours list for her services to patient safety.

Mills spearheaded the campaign for Martha's Rule, a patient safety initiative implemented in England in 2024. The rule allows patients, their families, or healthcare staff to request a rapid review if they are concerned about a patient's deteriorating condition. This mechanism is designed to provide a crucial second opinion and has been credited with potentially saving hundreds of lives.

The campaign was inspired by the death of Mills's 13-year-old daughter, Martha, in 2021 due to failures in identifying and treating sepsis while she was a patient at King's College hospital in London. A subsequent coroner's ruling suggested Martha likely would have survived if her condition had been recognized and she had been transferred to intensive care earlier.

Mills, along with Martha's father Paul Laity, advocated for the system, aiming to shift the power dynamic in hospitals and give patients and families a greater voice. NHS statistics indicate that Martha's Rule may have saved over 500 lives since its introduction. Former health secretary Wes Streeting has lauded the initiative, stating it is already having a life-saving impact and is proof that cultural change for patient safety is achievable within the NHS.