What is Jess’s Rule?
Jess went to her GP 20 times before her cancer was found. She was just 27.
Now, thanks to her family’s campaign, GPs are being asked to reflect, review and rethink if someone comes back 3 times with the same symptoms and still has no answers.
How will this change things for patients?
This is a positive step for patients and a practical support for clinicians. It formalises what many GP teams already do: pause, reconsider, and seek a second opinion when symptoms persist or escalate – and will hopefully strongly encourage those that don’t.
For people with fertility-impacting conditions – like endometriosis, fibroids, PCOS, thyroid disorders, early menopause, or male-factor issues – this is especially important.
Delayed diagnoses can mean months or years of uncertainty, worry, pain, poor mental health impacts and lost time to conceive.
Jess’s Rule helps to:
🔎 Spot conditions earlier, hopefully leading to faster treatment and better outcomes
🤝 Improve continuity of care, reducing the need to start over at each appointment
🧠 Support shared decision-making, recognising patients as partners in their health.
Fertility Action fully supports Jess’s Rule and calls for it to be embedded alongside robust education on reproductive health conditions, so patients are heard and clinicians are equipped to act early.
Together, we can make sure persistent symptoms trigger timely action – protecting not only lives, but our mental health, futures and families.
