Journalist and healthcare campaigner was driving force behind patient safety initiative after death of 13-year-old daughter The healthcare campaigner and journalist Merope Mills has been made a CBE in the king’s birthday honours list for services to patient safety. Mills, a senior editor at the Guardian, was a driving force behind the introduction of an initiative in England said to have potentially saved hundreds of lives . She has spent years campaigning for the introduction of Martha’s rule under which patients, relatives and staff can seek a second opinion if they have concerns about the care being provided.