Recommendation BRIS-149: Improve clinician confidence in Patient Administration Systems data through collaboration
From Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report, published 18 July 2001.
Recommendation
Steps should be taken nationally and locally to build the confidence of clinicians in the data recorded in the Patient Administration Systems in trusts (which is subsequently aggregated nationally to form the Hospital Episode Statistics). Such steps should include the establishment by trusts of closer working arrangements between clincians and clinical coding staff.
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 update to Recommendation 148 above (EPR).
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 Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Superseded”.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. 149, PDF page 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 that a number of steps had been taken to engage clinicians with the value of the data recorded in the Patient Administration System and Hospital Episode Statistics, including major consultation on performance indicators and discussions with the British Medical Association about how Hospital Episode Statistics data could be used to monitor clinical quality.
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. 149, PDF page 120.
Who has spoken
- DHSC and NHS England
Delivery statement - Thirlwall Inquiry legal team
Finding