Assisted Reproduction · Safety and Risks
RRM Academy Synopsis
UK Fertility Clinics Reported 516 Adverse Incidents in 2013
The UK's fertility watchdog counts clinic problems every year. In 2013, 516 incidents were reported among the UK's fertility clinics, from small lab mistakes to four serious cases that needed a full review.
Key Findings
- Of 516 total reports in 2013, 208 were graded B and 262 graded C. Only 4 reached the top A grade; 42 were near misses or non-events.
- Nearly half of all reports (251 of 516, or 49%) involved direct clinical care. Most often these were ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) cases. Lapses in following clinical protocol were another type.
- OHSS cases numbered about 46 severe and 160 mild-to-moderate in 2013, a modest drop in severe cases from 60 the year before.
- Two of the four most serious incidents were equipment failures: a failed storage tank affected donor sperm from 250 patients, and a broken incubator ruined embryos for seven other patients.
- Ninety incidents involved administrative mistakes, chiefly confidentiality breaches such as sending test results or treatment letters to the wrong address.
Interpretation
The document counts events. It is not a scientific study. Clinic staff report each problem themselves, and reviewers then rate how serious it was. So the counts depend on subjective judgment, unlike a fixed test. A change from one year to the next does not prove real rates went up or down, since reporting habits can shift too. The regulator also states that about 1% of the more than 60,000 IVF cycles done each year in the UK involve some problem. The estimate is rough, unlike a rate calculated from this year's 516 reports. All of this applies only to UK clinics under this regulator in 2013.
RRM Context
Some incidents here involve gear used to store or grow eggs, sperm and embryos outside the body: a failed storage tank and a broken incubator. Others involved genetic testing of embryos, where a misdiagnosis led to errors. The risks here belong to lab-based fertility treatment, meaning IVF and stored donor sperm, eggs and embryos. Restorative reproductive medicine instead works with a couple's own cycle and body. It looks for the reason conception is not happening instead of bypassing the reproductive system. RRM care has its own risks too, including surgery, but this report does not measure them.
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Cite this article
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2014). Adverse Incidents in Fertility Clinics: Lessons to Learn 2013.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Adverse Incidents in Fertility Clinics: Lessons to Learn 2013. 2014.
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority. Adverse Incidents in Fertility Clinics: Lessons to Learn 2013. 2014.