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P2-7

Body store security standards match HTA-licensed facilities

Fuller Inquiry · Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report · Issued 15 July 2025 · Addressed to: NHS England

Government responseDepartment of Health and Social Care: Accepted in part (Dec 2025)

DeliveryDepartment of Health and Social Care says in progress (Jul 2026)NHS England states no delivery position (Jun 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The NHS should ensure that the security standards required for body stores are the same as those required for facilities licensed by the Human Tissue Authority.

Fuller Inquiry, Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 Report · 15 Jul 2025 Source PDF →

Published evidence summary

AI-generated evidence summary

In July 2026, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State Preet Kaur Gill reported that a national system letter had been issued setting out expected actions for NHS trusts to deliver improvements consistently (Preet Kaur Gill, Jul 2026). NHS England had previously mapped this recommendation in June 2026 to supporting guidance, including its Premises Assurance Model and Human Tissue Authority standards (NHS England, Jun 2026). In December 2025, the Department of Health and Social Care accepted the recommendation in principle "subject to further work to determine the full impact" (Department of Health and Social Care response, Dec 2025). Earlier, in July 2025, Dr Colin Sullivan of the regulator stated that it had piloted an assessment model for unlicensed body stores and set clear expectations on security measures (Dr Colin Sullivan, Jul 2025).

AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026.

About this summary
This recommendation applies across many organisations. The record above reflects central policy activity; adoption in individual organisations may vary.

Government response

●Department of Health and Social Care · Accepted in part · 16 Dec 2025

Words of: Department of Health and Social Care, Interim update on government progress in responding to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report, 16 December 2025

The government has agreed to accept in principle 43 recommendations subject to further work to determine the full impact of these recommendations.

Extract from: Interim update on government progress in responding to the Fuller inquiry phase 2 report

Site note: This is the Department of Health and Social Care's interim update on government progress in responding to the phase 2 report, published on 16 December 2025. It sorts the 75 recommendations into those the government has accepted in full (11), accepted in principle (43) and is still considering (21), and gives words of its own only on the 11 accepted in full. Every word is the Department's, so the rows are filed under it, including where the passage reports what another body has done.

Site note: The recommendation is addressed to NHS England; the passage is the Department's account, not that body's. The update gives this sentence once, under its heading "Recommendations accepted in principle", and lists this recommendation there among the 43 it covers. It says nothing about this recommendation alone.

Delivery

●Department of Health and Social Care says in progress · 15 Jul 2026

NHS England has also issued a national system letter setting out the actions expected of each NHS trust and providers to ensure improvements are delivered consistently.

From: Government update on Progress in responding to the Fuller Inquiry Phase 2 report, Preet Kaur Gill, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health Innovation and Safety

Site note: Written ministerial statement HCWS261, made on 15 July 2026 by the Department of Health and Social Care. It gives no per-recommendation breakdown, and it says the Government "remains committed to providing a full response to Sir Jonathan Michael's report once the leadership period for Prime Minister has concluded". That full response had not been published when these rows were recorded.

Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses the actions expected of NHS trusts, which are the subject of recommendations 1 to 21. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 1 to 21.

●NHS England states no delivery position · 26 Jun 2026

Recommendations 1 to 9 (relevant to security, CCTV, access and audit)
The full text of these recommendations can be found in the Phase 2 Report (pp.264-265).
Supporting guidance
NHS Premises Assurance Model (see entry 1 in Annex 1).
Health Building Note 16-01: Facilities for mortuaries, including body stores and post-mortem services (see entry 2 in Annex 1).
Other third-party guidance: Human Tissue Authority code of practice and Human Tissue Authority voluntary guidance (see entry 7 in Annex 1).

From: Nottingham maternity review findings on post-death care and key actions required following the Fuller Inquiry

Site note: NHS England's national system letter to NHS trusts and integrated care boards of 26 June 2026 (PRN02500). Its Annex 2 maps the NHS-relevant Fuller recommendations to named supporting guidance by number. The letter instructs trusts and records what NHS England has changed; it does not report that any recommendation is delivered. Neither the Board Assurance Statement returns it asks trusts for by 31 July 2026 nor the Premises Assurance Model submissions that closed on 8 September 2026 are published. Where the row carries an Annex 2 entry, it is the whole entry: the recommendations it covers, where their text is, and the guidance NHS England maps them to. An entry that only names guidance states no delivery position, and the site marks it noted.

Site note: The source names this recommendation by number. Annex 2 lists recommendations 1 to 9 together under security, CCTV, access and audit. Recommendations 1 and 2 carry a more specific passage of the same letter. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 3 to 9.

What other bodies have found

In their own words. These do not change the delivery statement above.

●Human Tissue Authority · 15 Jul 2025

We have set clear expectations on security measures including CCTV and access controls, and introduced unannounced inspections to strengthen our regulatory oversight. We piloted an assessment model for settings that are currently unlicensed, such as body stores and stand ready to offer our expertise in this area if needed.

From: HTA statement on the Fuller Independent Inquiry phase two report

Site note: The Human Tissue Authority's statement on the phase two report, 15 July 2025. The regulator describes its own measures and says it "will do all we can to support the implementation of those recommendations that are accepted by Ministers". It accepts nothing and rejects nothing.

Site note: The source does not name this recommendation by number. It is recorded here because it addresses the regulator's own expectations on CCTV and access control and its pilot assessment of unlicensed settings such as body stores. The source gives this passage once, for several recommendations. The same words are recorded on recommendations 7 and 55 to 56.

How this page is built

The recommendation and the government responses are verbatim from primary documents. Delivery statements and other bodies' findings are shown in their own words, each with its source. The summary is written by this site and labelled as such. The Index does not paraphrase sources or characterise intent; it records what has been published.