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Martha’s Rule will come to be

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Today I have read the fantastic news that Martha’s Rule will be put in place across all hospitals in the National Health Service (NHS) in England. I am so delighted.

Thank you Merope Mills. It is awful that you had to lose your beautiful daughter to bring this change to pass, but your telling of her story, and of your story, during that dreadful time in hospital, have sounded like a bell in the noise of life. Now, thanks to your urgent insistence, Martha’s Rule will be there for us when we are in hospital and at our most vulnerable – a reminder, strengthening us for times where challenge is necessary.

May no more lives be lost needlessly.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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Dyslexia – finding a way through ‘word blindness’

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This large image is one of the collection displayed in the courtyard of St Bartholomew’s Hospital (Barts) in London. The hospital is celebrating its 900th year of service, and showcasing various moments from its history.

I never knew that Barts had any connection with dyslexia, and I had never heard of Maisie Holt, a phsycologist and neurologist, born on the Isle of Man in 1900 and educated in Cambridge and in London. It was she who apparently came up with the first effective treatment for what was then known as ‘word blindness’. Part of her treatment involved the children posting simple words through the door of the little house, then collecting them and reading them back. As they got the measure of the words their confidence began to return.

Maisie Holt died in 2003 on the Isle of Wight after a life working in education, pyschology and the arts. I also read that she helped in the selection of bomber and fighter pilots for the Royal Air Force in the Second World War.

Here is a link to her obituary on the Wootton Bridge Historical site. She sounds like quite a woman.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023

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The powerful point of Martha’s Rule

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Just occasionally, out of the blue of an ordinary day, comes a voice that cuts through ‘stuff’ true as a sword.

I heard Merope Mills speaking on the morning news and stopped my rush in a heartbeat.

In 2021 her daughter, Martha, not quite 14, fell off her bicycle and injured herself. In hospital her condition deteriorated, but the family were unable to get a second opinion on her treatment in time to save her life. Now Merope Mills is campaigning to change this, to make it easier for patients to get assessed by a different medical team if they or their families are concerned by signs of rapid deterioration, and they feel the care being given is not right.

Every time I hear Merope Mills talk about what she hopes will result from Martha’s Rule, I stop and listen. My blood sinks at her story but my hopes rise at her voice. It sounds so full of scalpeled expertise, so urgent and fresh with pain. I hope it will be able to cut through the ‘systems’ that cost her and her family so dear.

Here’s a link to an article with more information about Martha’s Rule.

Copyright Georgie Knaggs & The Phraser 2023