Recommendation F223: Enhanced resources
From Report of the Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust Public Inquiry, published 6 February 2013.
Recommendation
If the General Medical Council is to be effective in looking into generic complaints and information it will probably need either greater resources, or better cooperation with the Care Quality Commission and other organisations such as the Royal Colleges to ensure that it is provided with the appropriate information.
In brief (written by this site)
In September 2024 commentary published in February 2026, the Department of Health and Social Care and NHS England reported that the General Medical Council entered into an information sharing agreement with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in September 2016 and participates in the Joint Strategic Oversight Group to share intelligence and coordinate regulatory action (DHSC and NHS England, Feb 2026). Previously, in May 2024, the Thirlwall Inquiry legal team noted that the recommendation had been accepted in principle and recorded the regulator's operational protocols with the Care Quality Commission (The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team, May 2024).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Accepted in principle.
The General Medical Council has made it clear that it is determined to improve the way it shares information and works with other regulators and organisations such as the medical Royal Colleges. The General Medical Council has agreed an information sharing protocol with the Care Quality Commission, which builds on the existing memorandum of understanding, to ensure that both organisations work closely and effectively together to share information and ensure appropriate and effective cross-referral of concerns.
How this response relates to the recommendation
Site note: This is volume two of "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (Cm 8777-II), the government's response to the Inquiry's 290 recommendations, published by the Department of Health on GOV.UK on 19 November 2013 and dated to that day here. The PDF the row links to is the accessible edition, whose title page reads "January 2014". The Department of Health has been the Department of Health and Social Care since January 2018. The volume says it includes accounts from each of the national organisations the recommendations name, but it does not mark which passage each organisation wrote, so every row is filed under the Department that published it.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
Government responded via "Hard Truths: The Journey to Putting Patients First" (2014), a single document covering all 290 recommendations with a blanket acceptance. Individual recommendation responses were not broken out.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say in progress (27 February 2026)
The General Medical Council entered into an information sharing agreement with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in September 2016.
Professional regulators are members of the Joint Strategic Oversight Group (JSOG), which was established to support the joint working of regulators and oversight organisations including the General Medical Council, Nursing and Midwifery Council, Health Education England and Care Quality Commission. JSOG is the forum for sharing intelligence, enhancing the sharing of information and coordinating regulatory action in response to safety concerns.
Site note: DHSC and NHS England's own account of progress, supplied to the Thirlwall Inquiry in September 2024 and printed in the Inquiry legal team's Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025, published 27 February 2026). It is not a finding of the Inquiry. Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Implemented - Ongoing”. Table row: section 18.2 No. 223, PDF page 540.
Department of Health and Social Care says in progress (11 February 2015)
The General Medical Council has developed an Operational Protocol with the Care Quality Commission, and is developing a joint approach to the evaluation of the operating protocol, with a full evaluation scheduled for September 2015. Additionally, progress is continuing on the development of refreshed or new Memorandas of Understanding or information sharing agreements with the NHS Trust Development Authority and Monitor. Operational protocols will be developed to practically support these Memoranda of Understanding and information sharing agreements.
The General Medical Council and the Care Quality Commission agreed a refreshed Operational Protocol in December 2014 and an approach to evaluating it. An interim evaluation report will be published in March 2015.
In addition, the General Medical Council has developed a new “information sharing manual” for Fitness to Practise” colleagues. This details at an operational level how, when and who the General Medical Council will share information with. Core joint training was launched in December 2014 at both the Care Quality Commission and the General Medical Council offices and the General Medical Council have supported the roll out of advanced training in January 2015.
A refreshed Memoranda of Understanding was agreed between the general Medical Council and the NHS Trust Development Authority in December 2014 and the General Medical Council are continuing to develop an Memoranda of Understanding with Monitor, agreement of which is expected during the first quarter of 2015. Operational Protocols will also be developed to support both of their implementation during the first quarter of 2015.
Site note: This is the supporting annex published on 11 February 2015 with "Culture change in the NHS: applying the lessons of the Francis Inquiries" (Cm 9009), attached to the GOV.UK page as "Culture change in the NHS supporting annex". The annex has no title page; that title is GOV.UK's and the PDF's own. Its table has four columns (No., Recommendation, Hard Truths Government response, Progress update), and the row carries the Progress update cell. No column says which organisation wrote an update, so the row is filed under the Department of Health (now the Department of Health and Social Care), which published it.
Site note: The Inquiry addressed this recommendation to the General Medical Council, not to the Department of Health. The annex gives this update in the Department's publication and does not say who wrote it, so the row is the Department's report of the progress made on it.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Thirlwall Inquiry legal team (15 May 2024)
This recommendation was accepted by the Government in principle.
In the January 2014 Hard Truths report, the Government referred to the General Medical Council information sharing protocol with the Care Quality Commission.
In the February 2015 Culture Change report, the Government said that the General Medical Council had developed an operational protocol with the Care Quality Commission and was in the process of agreeing a memorandum of understanding/information sharing agreement with Monitor. The Government also said the General Medical Council had developed a new information sharing manual for fitness to practise colleagues, detailing at an operational level how, when and who with the General Medical Council would share. The General Medical Council also entered into information sharing agreement with the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges in September 2016.
Site note: The Thirlwall Inquiry legal team's own notes on implementation, from its Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024). The review does not colour its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green; it leaves the cell uncoloured where a recommendation was rejected, where evidence of implementation was insufficient, or where steps had been taken but implementation was not yet complete. Table row: section 16.2 No. 223, PDF page 500-501.
Source
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Department of Health and Social Care
Response, delivery statement - DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding