Recommendation BRIS-3: Adopt patient-professional partnership model across all NHS healthcare settings
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
The notion of partnership between the healthcare professional and the patient, whereby the patient and the professional meet as equals with different expertise, must be adopted by healthcare professionals in all parts of the NHS, including healthcare professionals in hospitals.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say in progress (27 February 2026)
Please see our response to Recommendations 1 (patient-centred care) and 2 (shared decision-making).
Embedding the notion of partnership between patients and healthcare professionals is a core focus of both the NHS Constitution (see Recommendation 1) and the shared design-making model, as set out in Recommendation 2.
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 6.2 No. 3, PDF page 71.
What other bodies have found
In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.
Thirlwall Inquiry legal team (15 May 2024)
The Government agreed with this recommendation. In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said that a new core curriculum would be in place by 2002 to help break down traditional barriers between health professionals and patients, with the Expert Patient Programme introduced to support patients in this relationship.
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 6.2 No. 3, PDF page 73-74.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding