BRIS-91

Subject healthcare managers to regulatory bodies and professional codes of practice

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

Government responseNot tracked (historical inquiry)

DeliveryDHSC and NHS England state no delivery position (Feb 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

Managers as healthcare professionals should be subject to the same obligations as other healthcare professionals, including being subject to a regulatory body and professional code of practice. (See Recommendation 70.)

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 state no delivery position · 27 Feb 2026

The new government manifesto includes a commitment to introduce professional standards for NHS managers and bring them into regulation. The department is currently exploring options for taking this work forwards.

The NHS Leadership Competency Framework for Board members (2024) supports the recently refreshed Fit and Proper Persons regime. An independent evaluation is planned for 2025.

NHS England is also developing a management and leadership framework, which will include a Code of Practice for all leaders and managers.

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 Their reviewed extent of implementation reads “Superseded”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 91, PDF page 112.

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 in part with this recommendation.

In its January 2002 response, the Department of Health said it did not think it practicable to establish self-regulation for senior managers. The Department agreed that the standards expected of senior managers should be explicit, and it favoured a code of conduct, stronger performance management and tighter contracts.

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. 91, PDF page 101.

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.