Grant immunity for NHS staff reporting sentinel events within 48 hours
Bristol Heart Inquiry · Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report · Issued 18 July 2001
Source — verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation
Members of staff in the NHS should receive immunity from disciplinary action by the employer or by a professional body if they report a sentinel event to the trust or to the national database within 48 hours, except where they themselves have committed a criminal offence.
Bristol Heart Inquiry, Bristol Heart Inquiry — Final Report · 18 Jul 2001 Source PDF →
Response — verbatim from government
●No formal government response recorded
The Index has not yet recorded a verbatim government response to this recommendation.
Evidence trail — what's actually happened since
No published activity has been recorded against this recommendation yet.
Each entry above links to a primary source — gov.uk written statement, consultation response document, or inspection report. The Index does not characterise government intent; it tracks what has been published.
How this page is built
Source and Response are verbatim from primary documents. The Evidence trail records published activity since — written statements, consultation outcomes, inspection findings, parliamentary references. The Index does not paraphrase or characterise intent; it tracks what has been published. Where the evidence is the absence of action (a missed deadline, a slipped timetable), that absence is documented from primary sources rather than inferred.
This recommendation's data is verified periodically against primary sources. The Index is monitored for staleness weekly.