{"id":701196,"date":"2026-01-17T02:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/701196\/"},"modified":"2026-01-17T02:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-01-17T02:52:15","slug":"jess-rule-to-be-promoted-in-gps-across-england-every-patient-deserves-to-be-heard-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/701196\/","title":{"rendered":"Jess\u2019 Rule to be promoted in GPs across England: \u2018Every patient deserves to be heard\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Jess’s Rule<\/a>” is set to be promoted in all GP<\/a> practices across England<\/a> starting this week, urging family doctors to reconsider patient diagnoses.<\/p>\n

The system is named in memory of Jessica Brady, who contacted her surgery 20 times before tragically passing away in 2020 at the age of 27.<\/p>\n

Introduced in September, the rule aims to prevent avoidable deaths and assist medical professionals in identifying serious conditions, such as cancer, that might otherwise be missed.<\/p>\n

It specifically prompts GPs to re-evaluate cases where a patient has attended three appointments for the same symptoms without a diagnosis, or if their symptoms have deteriorated.<\/p>\n

Under the new guidance, doctors are encouraged to seek a second opinion, conduct face-to-face physical examinations, or order additional diagnostic tests.<\/p>\n

Ms Brady\u2019s mother Andrea Brady, said the charity set up in her daughter\u2019s name has been \u201cheartened\u201d by the response from primary care to the \u201cthree strikes and rethink\u201d approach.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The rule is named after Jessica Brady, left, whose mother Andrea, right, campaigned for the change (Family handout\/PA)<\/p>\n

Posters advertising Jess\u2019s Rule have been distributed to all 6,170 GP practices in England.<\/p>\n

Their display will boost patient safety by urging family doctors to challenge initial assumptions, according to the Department of Health and Social Care.<\/p>\n

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: \u201cEvery patient deserves to be heard, and every serious illness deserves to be caught early. Jess\u2019s Rule makes that possible \u2013 reminding clinicians to take a fresh look when symptoms persist, and empowering patients to speak up about their care.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a fitting tribute to Jessica Brady and the tireless campaigning of her parents. Their determination to turn tragedy into lasting change will help protect patients and save lives for years to come.\u201d<\/p>\n

The posters were co-designed by DHSC, NHS England and Jess\u2019s parents Andrea and Simon Brady.<\/p>\n

GP surgeries will also receive a letter from Mr Streeting and NHS England\u2019s national medical director Dr Claire Fuller to stress the importance of Jess\u2019s Rule.<\/p>\n

Ms Brady, an engineer for Airbus, contacted her GP surgery around 20 times over six months in the lead up to her death in 2020, reporting symptoms such as abdominal pain, coughing, vomiting and weight loss.<\/p>\n

Due to restrictions during the pandemic she was offered virtual appointments and prescribed medications including antibiotics and steroids. She was also told she may be suffering from long Covid.<\/p>\n

\"Ms<\/p>\n

Ms Brady was told she was suffering from long Covid and that she was too young for her symptoms to be anything serious (Family handout\/PA)<\/p>\n

Ms Brady was finally diagnosed with cancer that had spread throughout her body \u2013 but only after her mother paid for her to see a doctor privately. She died in hospital three weeks later.<\/p>\n

Andrea Brady said: \u201cThroughout her illness, Jess showed a quiet determination that her experience should lead to meaningful change, inspiring the launch of Jess\u2019s Rule in September last year. I am so incredibly proud of my caring and courageous daughter.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Jessica Brady CEDAR Trust, the charity established in Jess\u2019s name, has been heartened by the response from primary care practitioners adopting \u2018the Three Strikes and We Rethink\u2019 approach.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany have committed to developing further training, while others have written to patients to endorse the initiative and show their support. This level of engagement has been profoundly encouraging.<\/p>\n

\u201cJess\u2019s Rule posters have now been distributed to all GP practices in England and are expected to be displayed in consultation rooms. By supporting clinicians to take a fresh eyes approach when a patient returns for a third time with the same or worsening symptoms, Jess\u2019s Rule aims to ensure serious illnesses, including cancer, are identified and treated earlier \u2013 a goal I remain hopeful will be achieved.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"GP<\/p>\n

GP surgeries will receive a letter from Wes Streeting and NHS England\u2019s national medical director Dr Claire Fuller to stress the importance of Jess\u2019s Rule (PA)<\/p>\n

Dr Fuller said: \u201cEncouraging GP teams to challenge a diagnosis when it matters most could save lives by avoiding missed or late diagnoses, and I\u2019d like to thank Andrea and Simon Brady and the Jessica Brady CEDAR Trust for funding and providing their important insights to develop the posters.\u201d<\/p>\n

Professor Victoria Tzortziou Brown, chairwoman of the Royal College of GPs, said that Ms Brady\u2019s story \u201cis an important reminder that sometimes a rare diagnosis could be the right diagnosis\u201d.<\/p>\n

She added: \u201cJess\u2019s Rule formalises \u2018best practice\u2019 in general practice and underlines the importance of taking time to reflect and review a diagnosis, if a treatment plan doesn\u2019t seem to be working.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis might mean having a more in-depth conversation with the patient to see what other factors could be impacting their health, asking a colleague for a second opinion, or if appropriate, making a referral to secondary care.<\/p>\n

\u201cTimely diagnosis can mean better outcomes for patients \u2013 but many serious conditions, including many cancers, are challenging to identify in primary care because the symptoms are often similar to other less serious and more common conditions.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe college has worked with Jess Brady\u2019s family and the Jessica Brady CEDAR Trust to develop learning resources for GPs on diagnosing cancer in younger people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Research by Nuffield Trust and the Health Foundation found that half of 16 to 24-year-olds required three or more interactions with a GP surgery before being diagnosed with cancer, compared with one-in-five across the population.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"“Jess’s Rule” is set to be promoted in all GP practices across England starting this week, urging family…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":701197,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5008],"tags":[210978,748,393,210980,3060,4884,67271,210977,10080,8200,6444,210979,16,15,3595],"class_list":{"0":"post-701196","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-england","8":"tag-andrea-brady","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-family-doctors","12":"tag-gp","13":"tag-great-britain","14":"tag-jess","15":"tag-jessica-brady","16":"tag-nhs-england","17":"tag-patient-safety","18":"tag-primary-care","19":"tag-simon-brady","20":"tag-uk","21":"tag-united-kingdom","22":"tag-wes-streeting"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115908178632017251","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=701196"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/701196\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/701197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=701196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=701196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=701196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}