BRIS-78

Widen medical school access for diverse academic and socio-economic backgrounds

Bristol Heart Inquiry · Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report · Issued 18 July 2001

Government responseNot tracked (historical inquiry)

DeliveryDHSC and NHS England say in progress (Feb 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Access to medical schools should be widened to include people from diverse academic and socio-economic backgrounds. Those with qualifications in other areas of healthcare and those with an educational background in subjects other than science, who have the ability and wish to do so, should have greater opportunities than is presently the case, to enter medical schools.

Bristol Heart Inquiry, Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report · 18 Jul 2001 Source PDF →

Government response

●No formal government response recorded

The Index has not yet recorded a verbatim government response to this recommendation.

Delivery

●DHSC and NHS England say in progress · 27 Feb 2026

The Medical Schools Council has published a framework for active inclusion, which seeks to challenge exclusions in medical education (2021), including recruitment to medical schools.

The GMC also sets standards for the delivery of medical training, stating selection must be open, fair and transparent. UK medical schools are free to set their own policies in how they select their students.

The NHS has set out targeted actions to address prejudice and discrimination – direct and indirect – that exists through behaviour, policies, practices and culture in the NHS. The Long-term Workforce Plan (confirmed by the Messenger Review) reaffirmed the need for this action. The plan defines the size, shape, mix and number of staff needed to deliver high quality care, now and in the future. The EDI improvement plan supports the Long term Workforce Plan by improving the culture of our workplaces and the experiences of the workforce.

From: The Thirlwall Inquiry: Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version dated April 2025)

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. 78, PDF page 107.

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 when medical schools were asked to bid for extra places in 2000 and 2001, they were asked to demonstrate an active commitment to recruiting students from a broad range of social, ethnic and educational backgrounds.

From: The Thirlwall Inquiry: Review of Implementation of Recommendations from Previous Inquiries into Healthcare Issues (version of 15 May 2024)

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. 78, PDF page 97.

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.