'Three strikes and rethink' rule will save patients from GPs' failure to diagnose

PEOPLE with potentially deadly illnesses could be diagnosed sooner thanks to Jess's Rule, which is being rolled out across England to prevent avoidable deaths, the Government has announced.

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GPs will be told to take a “three strikes and rethink” approach to patients who have had three appointments already, to prevent missing serious illnesses such as cancer.

The rule is named after 27-year-old Jessica Brady, an engineer for Airbus, who had repeated GP appointments in the months leading up to her death in 2020.

Ms Brady contacted her GP surgery around 20 times over a six-month period, with symptoms including abdominal pain, coughing, vomiting and weight loss.

She was offered virtual appointments due to Covid restrictions and given numerous medications including antibiotics and steroids.

She was also told she was suffering from long Covid and she was too young for her symptoms to be anything serious.

Ms Brady was finally diagnosed with cancer that had spread throughout her body - but only after her mother paid for her to see a doctor privately. She was placed on oxygen and died in hospital three weeks later.

Under the new rule, doctors will be asked to think again if people have already had three appointments for their symptoms with no substantial diagnosis having been made, or symptoms having got worse.

Doctors will be encouraged to consider a second opinion, see people face-to-face for physical examinations, order more tests and make specialist referrals where appropriate.