Monitoring deaths in hospitals
Thirlwall Inquiry · Thirlwall Inquiry Final Report · Issued 15 September 2026 · Addressed to: NHS Trusts
Government responseDepartment of Health and Social Care: No response yet (Sep 2026)
DeliveryNo statement from NHS Trusts found
Recommendation, verbatim from the inquiry
●Inquiry recommendation, Chapter 35
i. By 31 March 2027, all hospital Trusts must have in place effective mechanisms for Board-
level monitoring of all deaths of children and babies.
ii. By 31 March 2027, all hospital Trusts must have in place a clear and predetermined route
to senior management for the escalation of concerning data trends or patterns.
Thirlwall Inquiry, Thirlwall Inquiry Final Report · 15 Sep 2026 Source PDF, page 3 →
Published evidence summary
AI-generated evidence summary
The Inquiry asked National Health Service (NHS) hospital trusts to monitor child deaths. In an oral statement in September 2026, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care said the government "will, of course, consider the entire report and set out a full response" (Department of Health and Social Care response, Sep 2026). The Minister quoted the Inquiry's finding that the Countess of Chester Hospital board received no reports on infant deaths, but board-level monitoring and escalation routes across trusts are not mentioned in the statement (Department of Health and Social Care response, Sep 2026). The record holds nothing dated later than the response of September 2026 (Department of Health and Social Care response, Sep 2026).
Sources
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 5 Oct 2026.
Government response
●Department of Health and Social Care · No response yet · 15 Sep 2026
No formal government response published. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care's oral statement of 15 September 2026, made on the day the Inquiry's report was published, names neither this recommendation nor board-level monitoring of the deaths of children and babies across Trusts. It quotes the report's finding that the Countess of Chester Hospital's board "did not receive any reports about the deaths of babies and children", but states no position on the recommendation. It says the government "will, of course, consider the entire report and set out a full response". No later government response to this recommendation was found in the sources searched on 28 September 2026.
Delivery
No statement on delivery from NHS Trusts has been found in the sources searched. This is separate from the response above.
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.