Recommendation BRIS-145: Make clinical audit compulsory for all healthcare professionals and part of contracts
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
Clinical audit should be compulsory for all healthcare professionals providing clinical care and the requirement to participate in it should be included as part of the contract of employment.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England say in progress (27 February 2026)
Please refer to our response to Recommendation 143 above. Professional revalidation additionally requires evidence of participation in clinical audit.
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. 145, PDF page 135-136.
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 this was being addressed for doctors through the introduction of appraisal as a contractual requirement and the impending introduction of General Medical Council revalidation. In fact, revalidation requirements for doctors were not introduced by the General Medical Council until December 2012.
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. 145, PDF page 119.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding