Trust extends patient safety initiative Call 4 Concern

A crucial patient safety initiative that allows patients or their friends or family to request an urgent review of care if they think deterioration is being missed by clinicians has been extended to cover The Oliver Fisher Neonatal Unit and our children’s wards.

Call 4 Concern (C4C), which was initially launched by the hospital in January 2023 for adult inpatients, has been rolled out across the two other services after the hospital was chosen as one of 143 hospitals in England to fully implement the system in both adult and children’s inpatient settings.

It enables inpatients staying with us, and their friends and family, to call a dedicated number, 24/7, for immediate help and advice, directly from a member of the Trust’s Acute Response Team, if they still have ongoing concerns about their own, or their loved ones changing condition despite raising their concerns with the nurse in charge or doctor.

A member of the team will then visit the patient on the ward to discuss any concerns with them or their family or friends, and assess the situation before liaising with the patient’s medical team, and other healthcare professionals, to discuss further treatment options, if needed. A note of the C4C intervention will then be logged in the patient’s notes summarising the concern raised and any actions taken.

The system was developed in response to the death of Martha Mills who died in 2021 due to developing sepsis in hospital after she was admitted with a pancreatic injury following a fall from her bike. Martha’s family’s concerns about her deteriorating condition were not listened to, and in 2023 a coroner ruled that Martha, aged 13, would probably have survived had she been moved to intensive care earlier.

In response to this, and other cases related to the management of clinical deterioration, the then Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and NHS England committed to implementing the system, which is also known as ‘Martha’s Rule’, across the NHS.

Central to Martha’s Rule is the right for patients, families and carers to request a rapid review if they are worried that they or their loved one’s condition is getting worse and their concerns are not being responded to.

Jonathan Wade, Interim Chief Executive, said: “While our staff work extremely hard to provide the very best of care to our patients, we also recognise that at times patients, and their loved ones, may notice small changes that could be early warning signs of deterioration before they show up in routine health measurements.

“We already have robust systems and processes in place to detect when a patient’s condition worsens, but Call 4 Concern provides another layer of reassurance for our patients and their families and shows our commitment to providing safe, compassionate and joined up care.”

Patients, family and friends who have ongoing concerns about their own or their loved ones changing condition, despite raising their concerns with the nurse in charge or doctor, can call the dedicated Call 4 Concern phone number, 24/7, on 07799 348608.