Homerton Fertility Centre in London had its licence suspended by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) on 8 March 2024, because of 'significant concerns about the clinic'.
Patients received a letter from Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, explaining that three separate incidents had occurred in the past year involving 'errors in a small number of our freezing processes' that had 'resulted in a small number of embryos either not surviving or being undetectable'. The letter also stated that the Trust had 'increased the security and access points in the unit'.
The Metropolitan Police attended the clinic on 8 March, due to concerns by the Trust about the possibility of an intruder, but police later confirmed that there was 'no police investigation at this time'. The Telegraph newspaper claimed that the HFEA had intervened after the newspaper 'raised concerns from whistleblowers'.
Peter Thompson, chief executive of the HFEA, said in a statement: 'The HFEA has suspended Homerton Fertility Centre's licence to operate with immediate effect, due to significant concerns about the clinic. The HFEA Licence Committee made this decision because of the potential risk to patients, gametes and embryos if the clinic's licence is not suspended with immediate effect.'
Homerton Fertility Centre is based at Homerton Hospital in Hackney, and sees both private and NHS patients. The clinic was forced to suspend treatment in April 2022, due to staffing shortages. Following the clinic's most recent inspection by the HFEA, on 28 February 2023, the HFEA recommended 'the renewal of the centre's treatment and storage licence for a period of three years without additional conditions'.
Patients who have already started medication for a treatment cycle will be able to continue treatment at the clinic, the HFEA confirmed, but other patients will need to be transferred to other clinics to complete treatment, despite Homerton Fertility Centre being the only NHS fertility clinic in the borough of Hackney. The NHS Foundation Trust has set up a helpline, open seven days a week, for patients who may be affected, and said in its letter of 8 March that patients directly affected by the errors had already been contacted.
One patient described her distress, upon first hearing her embryo could not be found at her embryo transfer appointment, to the BBC. The BBC and the Telegraph reported that around 150 embryos, from 45 patients, could be affected.
Professor Allan Pacey, trustee of PET (THE Progress Educational Trust) and University of Manchester-based andrologist, told the Telegraph: 'I don't know what they mean by "undetectable" in this instance. It's certainly possible for embryos to die and break up so they can't be found. But I think this is quite rare when they have got to the freezing stage, which is what I think they are talking about here.'
Sarah Norcross, director of PET, said: 'It needs to be established, via thorough investigation, what has gone wrong at the clinic since last year's inspection. This is necessary so that we can understand what has happened, and so that we can make sure it does not happen anywhere else.'
Last month, the HFEA launched an investigation into the potential loss of frozen eggs and embryos at Guy's and St Thomas' Assisted Conception Unit, London, following the use of mislabelled freezing fluid after a manufacturing error (see BioNews 1227).
Sources and References
-
HFEA statement: Homerton Fertility Centre
-
Important Information regarding the Fertility Unit
-
NHS fertility centre reported to police over fears of destroyed embryos
-
Intruders not responsible for destroying embryos at east London fertility clinic, police insist
-
Homerton Fertility Centre's licence suspended over 'significant concerns'
-
Licence Committee - minutes
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.