The rule that saved my little boy's life

Australian protocol giving patients and relatives the right to a second medical opinion may soon be adopted in the UK

- Joe Hinchliffe 

Six-month-old Weston was fast succumbing to infection in a hospital waiting room when his parents saw a poster that they have no doubt saved his life. For several days his mother, Brittany McDaniel, and father, Zack Tyndall, had been sent home or made to wait after being told the rash devouring his face was an allergic reaction or a bad case of eczema.

But as his eyes rolled back into his head, Weston's parents couldn't wait any longer. That was the moment last October when Tyndall saw a poster explaining "Ryan's rule". Once invoked, it would summon a senior clinician for a second opinion.

The panicked father dialled the number on the poster and a paediatric doctor arrived within minutes. McDaniel said the clinician took one look at her baby and instantly recognised that Weston was suffering from staphylococcus scalded skin syndrome. Finally, Weston was administered antibiotics to fight his infection.

Asked what she thinks would have happened had Ryan's rule not existed, McDaniel did not need to wait until the question was finished. "Weston would not be here," she said. "One hundred per cent, he would not be here. We are so grateful, beyond belief, for Ryan's rule. That saved his life."

Weston's ordeal, first reported by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, took place in Caboolture, about 40km from Brisbane. But the principle that patients and parents who believe their concerns are not being taken seriously are entitled to a second medical opinion could soon apply in England too.

Steve Barclay, the UK health secretary, last week cited Ryan's rule as a measure shown to have saved lives, as ministers consider introducing a similar approach in England, which would be known as "Martha's rule".

Thirteen-year-old Martha Mills died in 2021 after developing sepsis while under the care of King's College hospital NHS foundation trust in London.