BRIS-82

Make Continuing Professional Development (CPD) compulsory for all healthcare professionals

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

Government responseNot tracked (historical inquiry)

DeliveryDHSC and NHS England say partially delivered (Feb 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

CPD, being fundamental to the quality of care provided to patients, should be compulsory for all healthcare professionals.

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 partially delivered · 27 Feb 2026

Please see Recommendation 46 (Professional standards)

Most healthcare regulators set out the standards that all their registrants must meet in completing their Continuing Professional Development. For example:

• the GMC sets out the CPD requirements for revalidation for all registered doctors. Doctors must complete revalidation every 5 years, which includes providing evidence that CPD has been completed.

• The NMC sets out CPD requirements for nurses, requiring 35 hours of continuing professional development (CPD) relevant to your scope of practice in the three year period since registration was last renewed (or since joining the register)

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 “Partially Implemented –Ongoing”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 82, PDF page 108.

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 it was already part of the duty of healthcare professionals to maintain their knowledge and skills and keep up to date, this forming part of the appraisal and revalidation process.

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. 82, PDF page 98-99.

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.