HSSIB: Why I worry the NHS could slip backwards on patient safety (11 February 2026)

Summary

Over the last decade, there has been a real and welcome shift in how patient safety is understood. The language has changed. There is broader acceptance that harm is rarely the result of a single individual failure and that learning requires curiosity, systems thinking and psychological safety.

However, the NHS risks slipping backwards on patient safety. Expanding on a recent piece he wrote for the Health Service Journal, Healthcare Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) Chair Ted Baker blogs about lessons from safety investigations, the confusion between safety and quality, culture under pressure and why this matters now.