Assisted Reproduction Registries and Reporting
RRM Academy Synopsis
HFEA Received 548 Incident Reports and 88 Patient Complaints, 2020/21
The HFEA, the UK regulator, received 548 incident reports in 2020/21, down from 569. Its annual report spans a year when the pandemic cut treatment availability. The report also counts 88 patient complaints and 77 inspections among the clinics it licenses, including 103 that provide fertility treatment.
Key Findings
- The HFEA received 548 incident reports, including near misses, in 2020/21, compared with 569 in 2019/20.
- Category C incidents, which involve minor harm, rose 13% to 265 from 235. Category B incidents fell to 214, which is 24% fewer than in 2019/20.
- The HFEA carried out 77 inspections, down from 94 in 2019/20, and deferred 67 by 12 months. Inspectors identified 63 non-compliances.
- The HFEA received 88 patient complaints, against 87 in 2019/20. Complaints concerned communication, missing information and costs that were unclear or unexpected.
- The HFEA required all clinics to stop treatment by 15 April 2020, with fertility preservation excepted. By 12 June, 76% of NHS clinics and 94% of private clinics had reopened.
Interpretation
The HFEA built this annual summary from inspections, patient feedback, incident reports and the Register of fertility treatments. The authors state that the pandemic reduced treatment and changed inspection methods. They add that the data are not directly comparable with earlier years and call for cautious interpretation. The report gives absolute counts and no per-cycle rates. Incident figures cover events that clinics reported to the HFEA. The report presents no data on live births or on the causes of infertility in the patients treated.
RRM Context
The report tracks severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. The HFEA calls it a potentially serious side effect of the drugs given in fresh IVF cycles, and reports of severe cases fell in 2020/21. IVF bypasses infertility. It goes ahead without finding why conception has not occurred. Restorative reproductive medicine starts with that question and asks it for both partners.
Abstract
State of the Sector is the annual report of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), the independent regulator of fertility treatment and human embryo research in the United Kingdom, and this edition covers 2020/21. The report states that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the availability of fertility treatment in 2020/21 and that, together with changes to the inspection approach, its data are not directly comparable with previous years. For 2020/21 the report counts 77 inspections, carried out with a hybrid inspection approach, and 103 clinics licensed by the HFEA in the UK to provide fertility treatment. The report also records 548 incidents, including near misses, and 88 patient complaints in 2020/21.
Read the guide
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ART Registries and Codes of Practice: A Reference for Patients and Clinicians
A global reference to national IVF registries (HFEA, RTAC, ANZARD, Q-IVF, CDC, DIR, JSOG, CARTR Plus, REDLARA, ESHRE EIM, ICMART) and the codes of practice that govern fertility clinics. What each measures, and what they miss.
