"GPs in England are being urged to "think again" if they see a sick patient three times and can't pin down a diagnosis, or find their symptoms are getting worse. The new NHS initiative, called Jess's Rule, is named after Jessica Brady who contacted her GP on more than 20 occasions after starting to feel unwell in the summer of 2020. She was told her symptoms were related to long Covid and that she was "too young for cancer.""
"Jessica Brady was a talented engineer at Airbus, involved in the design of satellites. Her mum, Andrea, told Radio 4's Today programme that Jess was a very healthy young woman when the pandemic hit in 2020. But in July of that year, she didn't feel right and contacted her GP practice repeatedly over the next five months about her symptoms. Over time they became "increasingly debilitating", Andrea says."
Jess's Rule instructs GPs to reassess care when a patient presents three times or when symptoms worsen, prompting earlier specialist referral. Jessica Brady, a 27-year-old engineer, contacted her GP over 20 times from July 2020 with weight loss, night sweats, chronic fatigue, persistent cough and enlarged lymph nodes. Multiple clinicians saw her but no referral occurred; her symptoms were attributed to long Covid and youth. A private appointment led to a terminal stage 4 cancer diagnosis in November and she died three weeks later. The rule aims to improve patient safety and reduce diagnostic delays for potentially deadly illnesses.
Read at www.bbc.com
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