Recommendation BRIS-127: Publish and revise timetable for national clinical standards development, including target dates.
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
A timetable over the short, medium and long term should be published, and revised periodically, for the development of national clinical standards, so that the public may be consulted and kept aware of those areas of healthcare which are covered by such standards and those which will be covered in the future. Target dates should be set by which clinical standards will have been prepared for all major conditions and illnesses.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say in progress (27 February 2026)
NICE produce a forward view, highlighting areas that will be prioritised each year. NICE involve patients and public in the development of their publications as set out in response to recommendation 124.
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. 127, PDF page 128.
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 in principle with this recommendation.
In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said that the National Institute for Clinical Excellence already published a timetable for the production of its standards on its website, and that the Department would publish a consultation document covering the detail of the process of topic selection for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence.
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. 127, PDF page 113.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding