Recommendation BRIS-122: Designate NICE as sole body for national clinical standards coordination and review.
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
One body should be responsible for co-ordinating all action relating to the setting, issuing and keeping under review of national clinical standards: this should be NICE, suitably structured so as to give it the necessary independence and authority.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say not accepted (27 February 2026)
This recommendation was not accepted by the Government.
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 “Not accepted”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 122, PDF page 125-126.
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 rejected this recommendation.
In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said that while the National Institute for Clinical Excellence was the foremost body in providing clinical guidelines and technology appraisals, other bodies were still best placed to set standards in their fields.
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. 122, PDF page 111.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding