Healthcare Safety Investigation Branch
Our purpose is to improve patient safety through effective and independent investigations that don’t apportion blame or liability.
Tell us about a patient safety concern
Link to page with safety awareness formAbout us
We conduct independent investigations of patient safety concerns in NHS-funded care across England. The safety recommendations we make aim to improve healthcare systems and processes in order to reduce risk and improve safety.
HSIB is funded by the Department of Health & Social Care and hosted by NHS England and NHS Improvement. We hope that when parliamentary time allows, we will be established as an independent public body.
Lack of timely monitoring of patients with glaucoma
Lack of timely follow-up for glaucoma patients is a recognised national issue across the NHS. Research suggests that around 22 patients a month suffer severe or permanent sight loss as a result of the delays.
Our latest report comes after we looked at the case of a 34-year old woman who lost sight as a result of delayed follow-up appointments. She saw seven different ophthalmologists, and the time between her initial referral to hospital eye services and laser eye surgery was 11 months. By this time her sight had deteriorated so badly, she was registered as severely sight impaired.
We’ve made seven safety recommendations as a result of this investigation.
Latest news / view all
Latest HSIB report highlights ‘devastating’ impact of delays and pressure on national glaucoma services
Our new report warns that delays to follow-up appointments for glaucoma patients leaves them at risk of sight loss. The report highlights the case of a 34-year old woman who lost her sight as a result of 13 months of delays to follow-up appointments.
Investigations
We undertake patient safety investigations through two programmes - national investigations and maternity investigations. In our national programme we investigate up to 30 patient safety concerns each year in order to provide meaningful safety recommendations.
Our teams work closely with patients, families and healthcare staff affected by patient safety incidents and we never attribute blame or liability to individuals.
We welcome information about patient safety concerns from everyone, including patients and their families, the public, NHS staff and organisations.