Recommendation BRIS-75: Establish pilot schemes for common first-year undergraduate education for all healthcare professionals
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
Pilot schemes should be established to develop and evaluate the feasibility of making the first year’s course of undergraduate education common to all those wishing to become healthcare professionals.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say completed (27 February 2026)
The Thirlwall Inquiry has noted action taken in response to this recommendation.
Pre-registration training is not linked for medical and nursing students. However, much post registration training is now delivered using a multi-disciplinary approach. Such as the patient safety syllabus which is designed for NHS staff.
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 – Closed”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 75, PDF page 105-106.
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 it was piloting common learning undergraduate programmes and would ensure it developed and evaluated a range of workable approaches.
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 colours its Extent of Implementation cell for this recommendation green, which it uses to mark evidence, identified by the legal team, that a recommendation has been clearly implemented. Table row: section 6.2 No. 75, PDF page 97.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding