Jess’s Rule NHS In GPs UK: Medical Interview Guide
- Tanisha Sharma
- Dec 31, 2025
- 9 min read
If you are preparing for your upcoming medical school interview, being aware of the latest patient safety initiatives is crucial for demonstrating high-level NHS awareness.
One of the most significant recent developments in Primary Care is Jess's Rule, a safety protocol designed to prevent missed diagnoses in repeated GP presentations.
Understanding this rule allows you to discuss complex topics like diagnostic error, cognitive bias, and system pressures with maturity.
Jess’s Rule (launched September 2025) is an NHS patient safety initiative that mandates a "three strikes and we rethink" approach. It requires GPs to critically re-evaluate a patient's case, reflecting, reviewing, and rethinking, if they present three times with the same or worsening symptoms. It was established following the tragic death of Jessica Brady, whose cancer was missed after 20 GP contacts.
You can also have a go at example medicine interview questions, and can read through the model answers we have below.
Summary of Jess' Rule:
Jess’s Rule is used if a patient presents to the GP three times with worsening or similar symptoms.
It is named after Jessica Brady, whose cancer diagnosis was missed, and she subsequently passed away aged 27.
Jess’s Rule uses the ‘reflect, review, rethink’ approach.
It can be used to promote early diagnoses and continuity of care.
It acts in accordance with existing NHS rules, like Martha’s Rule.
👉🏻 Read more: MMI Medicine Interview Questions Guide
Jess’s Rule: What Is It?
Jess’s Rule is a formal primary care strategy designed to encourage GPs to pause and reconsider a diagnosis when a patient repeatedly presents with similar symptoms.
It was developed in collaboration with the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) and the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC).
The rule operates on the "Three Strikes and We Rethink" principle. If a patient attends the practice three times with the same or worsening condition, the clinical team is prompted to stop and re-evaluate the entire clinical picture rather than assuming the initial diagnosis was correct.
Key Takeaway: The core purpose of Jess's Rule is to break the cycle of "confirmation bias" by forcing a formal review after three unresolved presentations.
👉🏻 Read more: Primary, secondary and tertiary care
Jess’s Rule: What Happened?
Jess’s Rule is named after Jessica Brady, who passed away from Stage 4 Adenocarcinoma with unknown primary (this means they didn't know the origin of the cancer) in December 2020, aged 27.
In the five months prior to her death, Jess had twenty GP consultations, and her symptoms were attributed to long Covid. She had contacted six different doctors at her General Practice, and no referral to a specialist was ordered, despite symptoms of night sweats, weight loss and chronic fatigue.
Her symptoms were repeatedly attributed to Long Covid or anxiety. She was told she was "too young" for serious illness.
She had to seek private healthcare and was subsequently diagnosed with terminal stage 4 adenocarcinoma.
Due to the late stage of her cancer, no available treatment could be used, and she passed away three weeks later.
Jess’s Rule was therefore established to reduce the number of preventable deaths and to decrease the number of missed diagnoses during GP consultations.
👉🏻 Read more: GP shortages
Why Jess's Rule Matters for Medical Interviews
For aspiring doctors, understanding Jess's Rule is essential because it highlights the balance between resource management and patient safety.
It is a prime example of how the NHS learns from serious incidents (SIs) and implements systemic changes to reduce "diagnostic overshadowing" - where symptoms are wrongly attributed to a previous diagnosis or anxiety.
This is why we designed TheUKCATPeople's Medicine Interview Tutoring to include specific training on "Clinical Governance" and "Patient Safety," ensuring you can handle these ethical situations like a future colleague.
Key Takeaway: Jess's Rule is a prime example of Clinical Governance in action, illustrating how the NHS adapts guidelines to safeguard patients from diagnostic errors.
Jess’s Rule in the NHS: how is it used?
Jess’ Rule uses 3 core principles: ‘to reflect, review and rethink’. This is if the patient presents to the GP three times with the same or worsening symptoms.
Reflect
GPs must think back on what the patient has already told them and what could have been missed. The doctor must offer continuity of care to the patient.
An example of this could be if previous consultations have been via the phone, face-to-face appointments could be used, and physical examinations could be conducted.
Review
If the medical professional is uncertain about the patient’s symptoms, the GP ought to seek help from a colleague and consider if any red flags may be present in the patient’s diagnosis. heck for "Red Flags" (cancer symptoms) regardless of the patient's age or demographics.
This step directly combats age-related bias. It is vital for the GP to think about other diagnoses regardless of the patient’s demographics and background.
Rethink
This is where the GP must refer the patient to a specialist or for further tests.
If the diagnosis is still uncertain, refer the patient to a specialist or order definitive investigations (like blood tests or imaging) rather than "wait and see."
Dr. Akash’s Advice: If you are asked about this in an interview, link it to the GMC Good Medical Practice guidelines on "Recognising and working within the limits of your competence." Asking for a review isn't a sign of weakness; it's a sign of a safe doctor.
Which steps should be taken to implement Jess’s Rule in GPs?
There are a number of steps that GPs can take to put Jess's Rule into practice. Examples include:
Using in-person consultations if they were previously remote
Seeking a second opinion from a fellow GP or healthcare professional
Review their full medical history and record
Arrange additional tests or scans that could aid in diagnosis
It is important to note that many General Practices utilise the ‘ three strikes and rethink’ strategy; however, Jess’s Rule formalises this initiative and ensures that there is widespread use of this rule.
Jess’s Rule provides a structure for GPs to follow to ensure patient safety.
Additional training is not required for this initiative to be applied, as Jess’s rule already aligns with the GMC’s Good Medical Practice. It emphasises the importance of GPs taking a thorough history and arranging for further investigations based on the patient’s needs.
Jess’s Rule is not currently a law; however, it is proposed as general guidance for GPs to follow.
👉🏻 Read more: New GMC Rules
Jess’s Rule: Why is it needed in the NHS?
Jess's Rule is an essential initiative that can be used to benefit and protect patients. The rule is vital as:
Missed diagnoses are becoming increasingly more common in the NHS. 40% of cancer diagnoses were found following routine referrals or visits to A&E, rather than within primary care. This indicates how cancer detection during consultations is often missed.
Avoidable patient deaths have increased by 6%.
Diagnostic patient errors can cost the NHS up to £2.8 billion.
A report found that 50% of patients aged 16 to 24 years old needed 3 or more GP consultations before being diagnosed with cancer, compared to 20% across the whole population. This emphasises how diagnoses can be delayed due to health inequalities.
Jess’s Rule NHS Benefits:
Jess's Rule can be implemented to protect patients' safety and to empower them.
Jess’s Rule emphasises how GPs must actively listen to their patients’ concerns and act if their concerns persist.
It reinforces how the GP and patient work in partnership and formulate decisions together.
The rule can be used to strengthen patient-doctor communication.
It can be used to reduce health inequalities and ensure that patients receive a high standard of care regardless of their background.
The rule can be utilised to improve patients’ prognosis and reduce the amount of delayed diagnoses.
It promotes continuity of care, as GPs can arrange in-person consultations or perform physical examinations.
It encourages GPs to review patients’ full medical records and regularly update them.
Jess’s Rule: The Four Medical Ethical Pillars
In a medical interview, Jess's rule can be easily applied to all four medical ethical pillars and understanding its reasoning is important.
Jess’s Rule supports autonomy, as it empowers the patient to seek answers for their worsening symptoms and unexplained diagnosis. It allows for the patient’s concerns to be listened to.
Beneficence
Jess’s Rule acts in accordance with beneficence, as patients benefit from earlier diagnosis and improved prognosis.
This rule aims to reduce harm done to patients, as it endeavours to reduce preventable deaths and life-threatening diseases, like sepsis and cancer.
Justice
This rule ensures that all patients are treated equally and fairly, regardless of socioeconomic background.
Jess’s Rule vs. Martha’s Rule: What’s the Difference?
It is crucial not to confuse Jess's Rule with Martha's Rule, as they apply to different healthcare settings.
Jess's Rule (Primary Care): Focuses on GPs and repeated outpatient appointments. It is about catching chronic or developing conditions (like cancer) that are being missed over time.
Martha's Rule (Secondary Care): Focuses on Hospitals (Inpatient). It allows patients/families to call for an urgent "Critical Care Review" if they feel a patient is deteriorating acutely on a ward (e.g., Sepsis) and is being ignored.
Key Takeaway: Jess's Rule is for diagnosis in the community; Martha's Rule is for deterioration in hospital.
How to answer medical interview questions on Jess’s Rule:
When answering questions on Jess’s Rule, it is important to explain what the rule is and briefly describe why it was established.
Model Answer Structure
Definition: Briefly define the "3 strikes and we rethink" protocol.
Context: Mention Jessica Brady and the risk of diagnostic overshadowing in young patients.
Application: Explain the "Reflect, Review, Rethink" steps.
Balance: Acknowledge that while this increases GP Workload, it is necessary for safety. Link to the four medical ethical pillars
👉🏻 Read more: 7 Tips to Ace Your MMI Medical School Interview
Jess’s Rule NHS Model Question and Answer:
Describe an intervention that resolves issues within the NHS
An intervention that resolves issues within the NHS is Jess’s Rule. This is an initiative where if the patient presents to the GP three times with unexplained or worsening symptoms, the GP must reconsider the patient’s case.
This case is named after Jessica Brady, whose cancer diagnosis was missed, and she passed away aged 27. GPs are encouraged to arrange in-person consultations if they were previously remote, organise further tests or refer to a specialist.
This will prevent avoidable deaths, reduce the amount of missed diagnoses and improve patient diagnosis. This rule also supports the pillars of non-maleficence, as patients benefit from earlier diagnoses and justice is also supported, as all patients are treated equally regardless of their background.
Jess’s Rule Medical Interview Questions
Describe how patient safety can be improved.
Discuss an intervention that can improve missed diagnoses.
How could primary care be improved?
What issues currently exist in primary care?
Less likely to come up - harder!
Describe how Jess’s Rule is used in the NHS.
Describe initiatives that are used to improve patient safety.
👉🏻 Read more: 360 MMI Common Medical School Interview Questions
Jess's Rule FAQs
What is Jess's Rule?
Jess's Rule is a patient safety initiative that encourages GPs to "rethink" a diagnosis if a patient presents three times with the same or worsening symptoms. It aims to prevent missed diagnoses of serious conditions like cancer.
How does Jess's Rule work?
Jess's Rule is a patient safety initiative that encourages GPs to "rethink" a diagnosis if a patient presents three times with the same or worsening symptoms. It aims to prevent missed diagnoses of serious conditions like cancer.
What happened in Jess's Rule?
Jess's Rule is named after Jessica Brady, who passed away from adenocarcinoma after having 20 GP consultations. Her diagnosis was repeatedly missed and was put down to long Covid
Is Jess's Rule a law?
No, it is not a statute (law). It is a clinical directive and patient safety campaign supported by NHS England and the RCGP. It formalises "best practice" rather than creating a new legal act.
Why was Jess's Rule created?
Jess's rule was created to encourage earlier diagnosis and to prevent missed diagnoses for life-threatening conditions like sepsis and cancer. It was created to reduce avoidable patient deaths.
What are the benefits of Jess' Rule?
It promotes continuity of care and reduces "cognitive closure" (where a doctor decides on a diagnosis too early). By mandating a fresh look, it increases the chance of detecting life-threatening conditions like sepsis or cancer early.
Does Jess's Rule require extra funding?
While the rule itself is a protocol change, it implies a need for more resources, as referring more patients for scans or second opinions increases the demand on diagnostic services and GP appointment availability.
What is the "Three Strikes" concept?
It is the trigger for the rule: "Three strikes and we rethink." This means the third presentation for the same issue is the safety threshold where the standard of care shifts from "monitoring" to "mandatory review."
How can I discuss Jess's Rule in an interview?
Focus on Patient Safety and Human Factors. Discuss how doctors are human and can make mistakes due to bias or pressure, and how protocols like this act as a necessary "safety net" to protect patients.
Very informative and detailed