Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government why they decided to delay the establishment of the Health Services Safety Investigations Body by six months until October 2023.

On 1 April 2023, Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch (HSIB) national investigation programme was expected to transition into the Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB), a new body established under the Health and Care Act 2022.

We have been working on transitional arrangements to set up both bodies by April. However, there have been some delays to this, including appointments to the Board of the new organisation which will not be completed by April 2023. Whilst we could legally establish HSSIB by commencing the relevant provisions in the Health and Care Act 2022, we believe the delay will allow us to ensure a smooth transition of the investigation programme from HSIB to HSSIB.