Developments · England focus
Current national initiatives
Selected initiatives identified by October 2026, with their stated purpose, documented development and continuing evidence questions.
Several national organisations have introduced policies or programmes to improve safety. These are examples, not a complete list. We explain what each is intended to do. A published plan is not proof that it works everywhere.
1. National Health Service (NHS) England: sexual misconduct and safety
What it aims to do: help stop sexual misconduct and improve how healthcare organisations respond when someone reports it.
What has been introduced: the Sexual Safety Charter (a set of commitments organisations can make) and an Assurance Framework (a way to check progress). National guidance published in December 2025 and updated in April 2026 also covers chaperones (someone present during an examination), better-trained investigators, safeguarding (protecting people at risk) and clearer referrals between organisations. It includes primary care, such as general practitioner (GP or family doctor) surgeries.
What we still do not know: many measures focus on staff safety at work; some specifically protect patients. The number of organisations that sign up does not tell us how well these measures work in practice.
2. Health Services Safety Investigations Body (HSSIB): learning from serious safety problems
What it aims to do: investigate wider safety problems and recommend changes. HSSIB is independent and does not decide whether an individual is legally to blame.
What it published: In 2024, HSSIB looked at why some healthcare safety recommendations are not acted on. Its separate review of sexual safety mainly considered behaviour between staff and its possible effects on patient care. It was not a full investigation of sexual harm by healthcare workers against patients.
Its limits: HSSIB does not settle individual complaints or replace police or professional-regulator investigations. The 2024 review identified gaps in evidence about effects on patients and called for better recording and joined-up work.
Recommendations but no action — full report · Sexual safety — investigation summary and report
3. NHS England: event recording and learning
What it aims to do: help healthcare organisations record safety incidents and learn from them. The system is called Learn from Patient Safety Events (LFPSE). It replaced the older National Reporting and Learning System.
Its limits: this system is not a complete record of every worry or informal report about a healthcare worker’s sexual behaviour. We do not know whether all relevant concerns are entered or connected.
4. Freedom to Speak Up and whistleblowing
What it aims to do: give healthcare staff ways to speak up about safety and other problems at work. It is mainly for staff, not a patient complaints service.
What changed: on 1 July 2026, NHS England took over some national work previously done by the National Guardian’s Office. Individual organisations also took on more responsibility. Freedom to Speak Up (FTSU) and legal protections for staff who report wrongdoing, often called whistleblowing protections, are different things.
Its limits: having a reporting system does not prove that all warnings lead to action quickly enough.
5. Complaints and safeguarding duties
What it aims to do: make sure services take complaints seriously and respond when something goes wrong. Safeguarding is the work organisations do to protect children and adults who may be at risk of abuse.
Its limits: a complaint to a hospital, information sent to a professional regulator, a safeguarding referral and a report to police are not the same. They may each lead to a different kind of action.
Care Quality Commission (CQC) complaints rule (Regulation 16) · Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) guidance on referrals
Research snapshot · 30 October 2026 · Independent project