Life-saving Jess’s Rule to be advertised in every GP surgery
Shared on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England.
Jess’s Rule
- Posters raising awareness of the life-saving Jess’s Rule will be delivered to all 6,170 GP practices in England.
- Jess’s Rule makes sure GPs take a ‘fresh eyes’ approach with patients, making them think again to diagnose and catch serious illnesses earlier.
- The posters, co-designed with Jessica Brady’s parents, rolled out nationwide as part of major patient safety drive.
Patients across the country are set to benefit from a new life-saving safety campaign raising awareness of Jess’s Rule.
All GP surgeries in England will receive Jess’s Rule posters from this week, displaying the safety drive to GPs, primary care staff and patients in thousands of consultation rooms.
Jess’s Rule asks GPs to take a ‘fresh eyes’ approach and think again if, after three appointments, they have been unable to offer a patient a substantiated diagnosis or their symptoms have escalated.
The initiative, announced in September 2025, is named in honour of Jessica Brady, who died of cancer in December 2020 at the age of 27. It will help avoid tragic, preventable deaths as GPs are supported to catch potentially deadly illnesses sooner.
In the five months leading up to her death, Jessica had more than 20 appointments at her GP surgery but was eventually forced to seek private healthcare. She was later diagnosed with stage 4 adenocarcinoma - a type of cancer - which was so advanced there was no available treatment, and she died in hospital 3 weeks later.
Jess’s Rule is the result of years of campaigning undertaken by Jess’s parents to transform a tragedy into lasting patient safety change.
Displaying Jess’s Rule posters in consultation rooms will boost patient safety by prompting doctors to revisit patient records, challenge initial assumptions and remain alert to warning signs that might otherwise be missed.
The rollout to all 6,170 GP surgeries in England showcases the government’s commitment to protecting patients, saving lives and preventing unnecessary tragedies.
"Jess was eventually diagnosed with stage 4 cancer after contacting her GP surgery on 20 occasions over a 5-month period. Devastatingly, she died just 3 weeks later. Throughout her illness, Jess showed a quiet determination that her experience should lead to meaningful change, inspiring the launch of Jess’s Rule in September last year. I am so incredibly proud of my caring and courageous daughter.
"The Jessica Brady CEDAR Trust, the charity established in Jess’s name, has been heartened by the response from primary care practitioners adopting the ‘3 strikes and we rethink’ approach. Many 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.
"Jess’s 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’s Rule aims to ensure serious illnesses, including cancer, are identified and treated earlier - a goal I remain hopeful will be achieved."
Jess’s mum, Andrea Brady
The new Jess’s Rule posters were co-designed by the Department of Health and Social Care, NHS England and Jess’s parents, Andrea and Simon Brady. They will make sure every patient’s voice is heard and that GPs have the support they need to detect serious illness before it is too late.
Alongside the posters, GP surgeries will also receive a letter from the Health Secretary and the National Medical Director of NHS England, Claire Fuller, reinforcing the importance of this approach. The letter will ask GPs to display the poster in consultation rooms or staff areas to ensure the messaging around Jess’s Rule is visible to all teams.