The Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch (HSIB) is currently established under ministerial directions as part of the Trust Development Authority and hosted by NHS Improvement.

This bill makes provision to establish the Health Service Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) as an independent entity. It has undergone pre-legislative scrutiny by a Joint Committee, and the government has responded to its report. We contributed extensively to the joint committee’s work, giving oral and written evidence.

Our briefing below sets out the importance of the HSIB/HSSIB and its contributions to patient safety within the NHS, and our views on a number of key issues raised by the revised version of the bill, in particular relating to the importance of protecting the integrity of safe space.