Thirteen-year-old Martha Mills died in 2021 after doctors at King’s College hospital in London failed to identify and properly treat the sepsis she developed while in their care. Her mother, the Guardian senior editor and healthcare campaigner Merope Mills, has now been made a CBE in the king’s birthday honours list for services to patient safety.
Mills was the driving force behind Martha’s rule, an initiative in England that allows patients, relatives and staff to seek a second opinion if they have concerns about care. The scheme is said to have potentially saved hundreds of lives.
“Merope Mills awarded CBE for Martha’s rule campaign after daughter’s preventable sepsis death.”
“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,” Mills said. “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.”
Martha’s ordeal began with a minor cycling accident that caused a laceration to her pancreas. She was transferred to King’s College hospital because it is one of three national centres for paediatric pancreatic trauma. Her condition was not thought to be life-threatening. But she developed sepsis, which could have been treated. Her parents said their concerns over her deteriorating health were not heeded; doctors tried to reassure them even as Martha’s condition worsened. Nursing staff privately acknowledged she was at risk of death.
In 2022, a coroner ruled that Martha would probably have survived if doctors had identified the warning signs and transferred her to intensive care earlier. Along with her husband Paul Laity, Mills began advocating for a system under which people can 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 treating complications.”
Separately, the honours list also recognised Dame Helen Mirren, who was made a Companion of Honour for services to drama. The 80-year-old English actress was honoured in the same list.