Recommendation BRIS-92: Provide protected time for clinicians undertaking managerial roles beyond clinical practice
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
Where clinicians hold managerial roles which extend beyond their immediate clinical practice, sufficient protected time in the form of allocated sessions must be made available for them to carry out that managerial role.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say completed (27 February 2026)
Please see our response to Recommendation 91 (consultant contract) above. The 2003 consultant contract specifies that the job plan sets out the consultant’s managerial responsibilities. Similarly, managerial responsibilities are factored into the NHS Agenda for Change banding (for most other professions).
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. 92, PDF page 112.
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 under its proposals for a new consultant contract, consultant’s job plans would specifically address the time commitments needed for managerial duties.
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. 92, PDF page 102.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding