The NHS’s new police force

In 2022, the Health and Care Act created the Health Services Safety Investigation Body (HSSIB) with the intention of reducing risks to the safety of patients. Its investigators were given significant powers for entering properties, copying and taking away documents and equipment and calling people to interview. Obstruction by individuals, including refusal to address questions put to them at interview, is a criminal offence leading, on summary conviction, to a fine. However, the Act provided no safeguards in the form of an independent complaints process or a requirement that entries to properties and interviews must be video recorded.