Recommendation BRIS-128: Provide NICE with resources and statutory authority for national clinical standards role.
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
Resources, and any necessary statutory authority, must be made available to NICE to allow it to perform its role of developing, issuing and keeping under review national clinical standards.
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 is funded by and accountable to DHSC. A framework agreement between NICE and DHSC sets out business planning and funding arrangements between the two organisations.
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. 128, 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 with this recommendation.
In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said that funding for the National Institute for Clinical Excellence had grown in line with its increasing activity.
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. 128, PDF page 113.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding