Assisted Reproduction Registries and Reporting
RRM Academy Synopsis
UK fertility clinics reported 581 incidents in 2023/24, down 8%
UK fertility clinics reported 581 incidents in 2023/24, down 8% from 2022/23. The UK regulator, the HFEA, wrote this annual report from inspections, incident reports and complaints among clinics that carry out almost 100,000 treatment and storage cycles a year. Inspectors identified 226 non-compliances at inspection in the same year.
Key Findings
- The HFEA carried out 104 inspections in 2023/24, up from 85 in 2022/23, and 226 non-compliances were identified at inspection.
- Clinics reported 581 incidents, 52 fewer than in 2022/23: 1 Grade A, 202 Grade B, 289 Grade C, 62 near misses and 27 not yet graded.
- Clinics reported 53 severe or critical cases of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), occurring in less than 0.1% of cycles. All 53 fall within the Grade B incidents.
- The HFEA received 69 patient complaints, ten more than in the previous financial year: 14 formal complaints and 55 informal complaints.
- In 2023/24, 135 clinics were licensed: 107 for fertility treatment, 17 for research only and 11 for storage only.
Interpretation
The report is an annual regulatory summary of counts drawn from inspections, incident reports, complaints and patient feedback. Clinics report incidents under a legal duty. The HFEA states that over 99% of cycles are carried out without a reported incident. The 581 total includes near misses and ungraded incidents, while earlier editions counted only Grades A, B and C. The report text presents no live birth figures, and the HFEA notes that validation of the 2019 to 2022 birth outcome data was delayed. The HFEA states that its complaint count is not a reliable indicator of patient satisfaction. The 2022 treatment figures it cites are preliminary.
RRM Context
The report counts harms and compliance failures inside licensed clinics. It says nothing about why couples were infertile. The report describes OHSS as a side effect of fertility drugs taken to increase egg production. Restorative reproductive medicine starts by finding the cause and working with the body's own cycle. IVF bypasses the reproductive system. The cause of infertility stays unresolved, so an incident count in that pathway cannot show whether the cause was found.
Abstract
State of the fertility sector 2023/24 is the annual publication of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) on HFEA licensed clinics, covering 1st April 2023 to 31st March 2024. The report summarises what the HFEA has seen through its regulatory work during the year, drawing on its inspections, its Register of fertility treatments, incident reports and patient feedback. For 2023/24, the report records 104 inspections, an increase from 85 in 2022/23, and 226 non-compliances identified at inspection. Further sections report that 135 clinics were licensed by the HFEA to provide fertility treatment, storage and/or research, and that total incidents reduced by 8% compared to the previous financial year.
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.
