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4w ago

Professor Thompson Avoids Sanctions Despite Misconduct Finding in 13-Year-Old’s Death

Tribunal chair Robin Ince said the misconduct finding would serve as a lasting stain on Thompson’s reputation without the need for further punishment.

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Merope Mills with her daughter, Martha, 13, whose death from sepsis led to the creation of Martha’s Rule across NHS hospitals

Overview

  • On June 11, 2025, a Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service panel found Professor Richard Thompson guilty of “particularly grave” misconduct but decided no disciplinary penalty was necessary.
  • The tribunal concluded Thompson failed to refer Martha Mills to intensive care and did not conduct an in-person review despite her high-risk sepsis indicators.
  • Exceptional circumstances cited included systemic ward failings in paediatric intensive care referrals and no evidence that Thompson’s actions directly caused Mills’s death.
  • Martha’s Rule, enacted in 2024 after the teenager’s death, has been invoked over 2,000 times and led to more than 100 patients being escalated to intensive care.
  • A coroner’s 2022 inquest ruled that earlier ICU transfer could have saved Martha and Thompson has since completed sepsis management training while expressing deep remorse.