Jess's Rule - a new life-saving patient safety initiative

Jess’s Rule was rolled out nationwide on 23rd September 2025 to prevent avoidable deaths. The new initiative will ask GPs across England to take ‘3 strikes and rethink approach’ after 3 appointments if they have been unable to offer a substantiated diagnosis or the patient’s symptoms have escalated.

Jess's Rule is named in memory of Jessica Brady, who died of cancer in December 2020 at the age of 27, and will help avoid tragic, preventable deaths as GPs are supported to catch potentially deadly illnesses sooner. 

In the 5 months leading up to her death, Jessica had more than 20 appointments with her GP practice but eventually had to seek private healthcare. She was later diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma. With such an advanced disease there was no available treatment. She was admitted into hospital where she died 3 weeks later.