• The Joint Committee on the Draft Health Service Safety Investigations Bill has published its findings on the Government’s plans to establish the Health Service Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB)
• The report supports the planned ‘safe space’ approach to investigating incidents but calls on the government to reconsider plans that would allow HSSIB to accredit NHS trusts to conduct internal ‘safe space’ investigations
• NHS Providers welcomes the report and argue that the HSSIB must be a statuary body in its own right to be able to conduct independent safety investigations.

Responding to the findings from the Joint Committee on the Draft Health Service Safety Investigations Bill, the chief executive of NHS Providers, Chris Hopson said:

“The Health Service Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) has a valuable role to play in helping providers learn lessons from incidents and improve patient safety.

“We are pleased to see that this report has taken on board recommendations made by NHS Providers. We agree that to determine the causes of incidents rather than laying blame, the HSSIB must be a statuary body in its own right and able to conduct independent safety investigations.

The HSSIB must be a statuary body in its own right and able to conduct independent safety investigations.

Chris Hopson    

"Safe spaces are a part of creating a culture of openness and one where staff feel confident to raise concerns about safety or care that might have contributed to an incident. The HSSIB must have the power to develop ‘safe spaces’ so that staff and patients can have full confidence in the process. It can also work together with trusts to improve their own investigations and help establish a culture of learning.

“We must tackle blame culture head on if we are to address and learn from mistakes and give patients confidence in the care they receive.”