BRIS-174

NSF must set obligatory and aspirational standards for children's services

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

Government responseNot tracked (historical inquiry)

DeliveryDHSC and NHS England say completed (Feb 2026)

Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry

●Inquiry recommendation

The NSF should set obligatory standards which must be observed, as well as standards to which children’s services should aspire over time.

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 completed · 27 Feb 2026

Please see our response to Recommendation 172 and Recommendation 181 on service specifications for paediatric specialised services. Guidance is provided in Getting the right start: National Service Framework for Children and the National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity Services.

In addition, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance [NG204]: Babies, children and young people’s experience of healthcare, published on 25 August 2021, recommends that care for babies, children and young people takes place in an environment that:

• meets their clinical and personal needs

• takes into account their preferences about their place of care (or the preferences of parents or carers for babies or young children)

• is appropriate for their age and developmental stage, is physically accessible and has adaptations available, if needed.

Under sections 46 and 60-65 of the Health and Social Care Act 2008, the Care Quality Commission may undertake reviews and inspections of registered health services provided to children and where appropriate or necessary can undertake joint inspections of such services with other inspection authorities.

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 - Closed”. Table row: section 6.2 No. 174, PDF page 148-149.

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.

The National Service Framework for Children, Young People and Maternity Services included standards as well as long-term visions of outcomes.

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. 174, PDF page 128-129.

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.