The Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB) has published the terms of reference for its review of mental health inpatient settings across the NHS and independent sector.
The HSSIB has been conducting preparatory work with its predecessor, the Healthcare Safety Investigations Branch, since last June to establish the scope of the review.
The terms of reference feature four separate investigations, which will centre around:
- Learning from inpatient mental health deaths, and near misses, to improve patient safety
- The provision of safe care during transition from children and young person to adult, inpatient mental health services
- Impact of out of area placements on the safety of mental health patients
- Creating the conditions for staff to deliver safe and therapeutic care – workforce, relationships, environments
The findings from the review will be published throughout this year, with a conclusion expected before the end of 2024.
Patients, families and carers in addition to national and local healthcare organisations will be a part of the HSSIB’s engagement.
The HSSIB says it also works routinely with the charitable sector to ensure patient voice is appropriately represented.
The announcement comes shortly after the health secretary, Victoria Atkins, asked the Care Quality Commission (CQC) to conduct a special review into Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust where Valdo Calocane was treated for paranoid schizophrenia.
The CQC investigation will focus on the wider issues in mental healthcare provision in Nottingham in a bid to get answers for the families affected by the killings of Barnaby Webber, Grace O’Malley-Kumar and Ian Coates.
Image credit: iStock
