Health Services Safety Investigations Body

The Health Services Safety Investigation Branch (HSSIB) began operations on 1 October 2023 as a fully independent arm’s-length body of the Department of Health and Social Care. HSSIB investigates patient safety concerns across NHS services in England, as well as in independent healthcare settings where safety insights could help improve NHS care. 

Throughout 2024, the Independent Healthcare Providers Network (IHPN) has actively engaged with HSSIB in several ways. This includes facilitating access to training programs for independent sector providers to enhance safety practices, sharing insights about the independent healthcare sector to support HSSIB in scoping investigations and understanding issues during their discovery phase, and contributing to the dissemination of findings through written communications, meetings, and events. This collaboration highlights a shared commitment to improving patient safety and fostering learning across both NHS and independent healthcare settings. 

In 2025 the IHPN CQC Patient Safety Conference will be in partnership with HSSIB, helping to ensure that their findings and recommendations from national investigations into areas such as medicines management errors and fatigue are known and implemented.