Recommendation BRIS-147: New Office to co-ordinate national audits and provide early performance surveillance
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
The Office for Information on Healthcare Performance should supplant the current fragmentation of approach through a programme of activities involving the co-ordination of the various national audits. In addition to its other responsibilities, the new system should provide a mechanism for surveillance whereby patterns of performance in the NHS which may warrant further scrutiny can be identified as early as possible.
Government response
No government response to this recommendation is on the record yet.
Delivery
DHSC and NHS England state no delivery position (27 February 2026)
Please see our response to Recommendation 146 above.
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 Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Superseded”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 147, PDF page 136-137.
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 the Office for Information on Health Care Performance would undertake this task as part of its key functions.
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. 147, PDF page 120.
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding