HFEA publishes report on infertility clinics

The UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the government regulator of infertility clinics, has published a report into the performance of UK clinics offering IVF and donor insemination. The report has found that the majority of clinics broadly meet the standards set by the regulator although there are areas in which most could improve and there are a small number of clinics that score poorly across many areas.

The HFEA particularly recommends that improvement needs to be made in all clinics to ensure that patients are given adequate information, they found that this was also linked to the provision of good patient counselling. If not enough information is given to patients, combined with little access to discussion to explore the implications of the procedures, then it becomes much harder for patients to make properly informed decisions, they suggest.

The report was based on the time period April 2005 to March 2006 and considered information from a combination of inspections carried out by the HFEA, patient complaints and incidents reported to the authority. A few clinics were reported as having 'systemic problems related to poor leadership and control across a range of their operations'. These clinics have already faced intervention from the regulator in an effort to improve practice, including having conditions placed on their licences and reduction of licence length. In the future, failing clinics could have their licence revoked.

Mark Hamilton, chairman of the British Fertility Society (BFS), told the BBC that 'every complaint, including those alluded to in this report, merits serious attention'. He added: 'The need to provide patients with comprehensive information about infertility and its treatment is fundamental to good medical practice and the principle of a patient centred approach to infertility care is something which the BFS has supported for many years... The BFS continues to work hard with clinics as well as the regulator to ensure that infertile patients in the UK receive the best possible care'.