The Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) will stop carrying out external maternity incident investigations by 2021, handing them back to the NHS, HSJ has learned.
Powers to allow HSIB to continue investigating more than 1,000 serious incidents in maternity units each year were left out of legislation which was presented to the House of Lords this week, sparking criticism from former health secretary Jeremy Hunt.
The new bill gives HSIB statutory independence from the NHS alongside a range of powers, including the power to enter and seize documents and equipment that could be evidence. It also grants HSIB the power to keep information in a so-called safe space that cannot be shared, except in exceptional circumstances, with bodies like the General Medical Council.
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Source: HSJ, 18 October 219
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