HSSIB: Roundtable explores bias and discrimination in NHS patient safety investigations (2026)

Summary

The Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) released a new briefing, in partnership with the NHS Race and Health Observatory (NHSRHO), to raise awareness and encourage positive change around bias and discrimination in patient safety investigations at all levels across the NHS.

This briefing is informed by contributions from a national roundtable held in November 2025. This collaborative event brought together individuals with lived experience, patient advocates, clinicians and senior healthcare leaders.

Content

The briefing identified a series of recommendations, which include:

• embedding explicit consideration of racism within investigation standards
• improving expectations for family involvement
• strengthening leadership accountability for equity
• ensuring more consistent use of data to identify inequalities
• anti-racism to be a core component of patient safety investigations
• robust mechanisms to monitor implementation and impact.