Search the hub

Around a 100 families a year will have a loved one killed by someone with mental illness. Hundred Families provides practical information for families affected by mental health homicides in Britain. Hundred Families have helped over 70 families with support, information and advocacy after killings by people with mental illness. They work with the Criminal Justice System, the Health Service and other organisations to support victims and to embed real learning in order to prevent these tragedies from happening in future. Hundred Families offer training to NHS staff on: the extent and impact of mental health homicides engaging victims with decency, openness and respect learning lessons effectively after such incidents. They advise government departments, national organisations, Members of Parliament and others on the scale of the problem and the needs of families and contribute to national consultations on criminal justice and mental health policy. They also conduct research and investigations.

This exploratory investigation by the Healthcare Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) considered the potential of conducting a full investigation into the patient safety risks associated with sexual safety. As part of this work, HSSIB engaged with 20 different stakeholder organisations including national organisations, regulators, universities, royal colleges and professional organisations, national patient advocacy organisations, and independent activist groups. HSSIB found there were many ongoing and new initiatives, such as the NHS sexual safety in healthcare organisational charter, that would take time to develop, embed and reach a mature state to allow evaluation. It concluded that a full HSSIB investigation would therefore offer limited value at this time. As part of this exploratory investigation, HSSIB made the following safety observations: Health and care organisations can improve patient safety by capturing the impacts, events and circumstances where sexual safety incidents have affected the provision of safe care. This would help organisations to understand and assess the risks posed to patient safety. Health and care organisations can reduce duplication of effort within sexual safety improvement work by increasing co-ordination and collaboration. This should accelerate and enhance the potential improvements across organisations. There is an opportunity for health and care organisations to share learning around implementing the 10 principles of NHS England’s ‘Sexual safety in healthcare – organisational charter’. This would enhance shared knowledge, understanding and mechanisms for embedding the principles.