The new resource is intended to support a wide audience, including patient safety specialists, healthcare professionals, commissioners and policymakers, as well as staff, patients, families and carers involved in investigations.
Providing practical and accessible resources
The launch marks a significant milestone in our Building Investigation Excellence Strategy which was developed in response to changes in the patient safety landscape and the organisation’s role as a centre of excellence for healthcare safety investigations.
The Knowledge Exchange will bring together learning resources and practical guidance aimed at helping those conducting and involved in investigations to ensure they are high-quality, professional compassionate, and trauma-informed. Resources will include learning tools, guidance, webinars, blogs and practical materials, with more content being released over the coming weeks and months.
The Knowledge Exchange is intended to make investigation knowledge more accessible, with materials drawing on real-world experience rather than relying solely on theoretical approaches. More than 40,000 people have undertaken our previous education courses, demonstrating the growing demand for investigation expertise and learning across healthcare. The Knowledge Exchange builds on this strong foundation by providing a more sustainable and accessible way of sharing investigation knowledge and learning across the health system.
Supporting health investigation capability
Overall, the Building Investigation Excellence strategy focuses on strengthening investigation capability, improving access to resources, increasing professional connections between investigators, and working collaboratively across the healthcare system to reduce duplication and align priorities.
More than 250 healthcare professionals and representatives from national organisations contributed to the development of the strategy through workshops, surveys and interviews, helping to shape HSSIB's future approach to supporting healthcare investigation capability.
Philippa Styles, Director of Investigations at HSSIB, said:
"High-quality investigations are fundamental to understanding why patient safety events happen and to identify opportunities to make care safer. The launch comes against a backdrop of increasing emphasis on the importance of learning from patient safety events and strengthening investigation practice across the NHS.
"The Knowledge Exchange will provide practical, accessible support and information for everyone involved in patient safety events, whether they are leading investigations, contributing to them, or seeking to understand the process.
"As the first phase of our Building Investigation Excellence strategy, it represents an important step towards strengthening investigation capability across the healthcare system and helping ensure learning from investigations leads to meaningful improvements in patient safety."
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