UK NHS Launches 'Jess’s Rule' Across All GP Clinics to Prevent Avoidable Deaths

Sky News reports the NHS will display ‘Jess’s Rule’ in every GP practice in England to reduce avoidable deaths. The policy, launched in September 2023, urges clinicians to rethink a patient after three appointments without a diagnosis, a ‘three strikes and rethink’ approach. Named after 27‑year‑old Airbus engineer Jessica Brady, who visited her surgery 20 times over six months and was only diagnosed with metastatic cancer after her mother arranged a private exam, Brady died in hospital three weeks later in 2020. Posters have now been distributed to all 6,170 GP clinics, together with letters from Health Secretary Wes Streeting and NHS England’s chief medical officer Dr Claire Fuller. Research by the Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation shows that half of 16‑24‑year‑old patients require three or more GP encounters before a cancer diagnosis, compared with one‑in‑five in the general population.