Health Services Safety Investigations Body

The HSSIB’s purpose is to improve the national standard of maternity care in England. As a national and independent investigating body, they use a standardised approach to their investigations. This is important as the investigations are to identify how the incidents may have happened. They aren't there to find out if the care provided was negligent. Within the realm of maternity, the HSSIB will investigate:

• Early neonatal deaths
• Stillbirths
• Severe brain injuries in babies born at term following labour in England
• Maternal death in England of women while pregnant or within 42 days of the end of pregnancy (excluding death by suicide).

The HSSIB works with families to ensure the report considers their perspectives on the events. They also have confidential meetings with staff to get the clearest possible accounts of what happened.

The final reports they produce are anonymised. The HSSIB also works with NHS staff to improve maternity safety investigations. On a national level, they collate their reports to identify any themes and influence change in maternity care across England.

All hospitals have a duty to report any incident that could give rise to a maternity investigation within 72 hours of the event. The HSSIB will then confirm whether the incident needs an investigation.

You can’t personally request a HSSIB investigation, but an investigation can’t happen without your consent. If you refuse, the HSSIB won’t investigate. Instead, they’ll pass the matter back to the hospital involved.

Hospitals must tell you that the case has been referred to the HSSIB. They must also confirm that they’ve completed their duty of candour. This means they must be open and transparent about the care and treatment they provided, including anything that went wrong.

While we’re waiting for the HSSIB to release their report, we’ll launch a legal investigation to determine whether medical negligence took place.

Our investigation may conclude that you’re able to claim for medical negligence compensation. If you wish to put in a claim, we’ll fight to get you every penny you deserve.

The HSSIB should send you a draft of the report so you can add your comments. If you share it with us at this stage, we can help you to highlight any issues or points you disagree on. If you wish, we can also help you to draft your comments.

Sharing the report with us is important because families are sometimes unhappy with the report. The HSSIB may identify areas for improvement without reaching a conclusion on the standard of care provided. We can help you to put your point of view across and make sure that the report includes information on the standard of care you received.

Yes, you can make a claim for compensation if a HSSIB investigation is underway. The legal investigation would run alongside the HSSIB investigation. The HSSIB aims to complete its reports within 6 to 12 months of notification. However, in complex cases, the report may not be issued for between 12 and 18 months.

While we’re waiting on the report, we’ll carry out our investigation. This will mean we’re ready to take any relevant action when it’s released. 

Yes, you’ll get to see the report, and add your own comments before it’s finalised.

This will help you to put your point of view across and highlight anything you feel the HSSIB may have missed.

We have a proven record of securing compensation for clients who’ve experienced medical negligence.

We have worked with people who’ve gone through unnecessary suffering while in hospital for many years. This has given us first-hand experience of seeing how distressing it can be. That’s why we’ll get to understand your unique situation and fight to get you all the compensation you deserve

The Legal 500, one of the UK’s leading independent legal directories, consistently praises our medical negligence team. It states: “They are all excellent lawyers who have a first-rate manner with clients. The team is well-used to dealing with complex disease cases and injury cases of the utmost severity and complexity, as well as fatal accident cases.”

Chambers and Partners, another leading legal directory, also ranks us as a guiding light for medical negligence claims.

While our lawyers are fighting your case, our in-house Support and Rehabilitation team are at hand to help you get back on your feet. As trained clinical specialists, they can assess the care and support you’d benefit from the most. Our excellent relationships with charities, support groups, and care providers throughout the country means we can ensure you get the help you need.

Once your case is settled, our financial planners and advisors can help you to get the most out of your compensation. They will advise you on making your money last for the rest of your life. Our advisors can also help you to invest your money, so it stands a good chance of growing in the future.

We also have offices based all over the country, meaning we’re able to quickly arrange an appointment to meet with you. If you can’t get to an office, we can visit you at home or in hospital. There’s also the option to communicate by phone, video call, or email.