Date Published:
15 June 2009 |
HFEA statement about an incident at IVF Wales
News release/statement from
the UK Human Fertilisation
and
Embryology Authority (HFEA).
HFEA Chief Executive Alan Doran said:
“We have great sympathy for the two couples involved in this incident
at IVF Wales. This event shows just how important and central fertility treatment
is to peoples lives.
HFEA takes incidents very seriously. There is a robust procedure in place
for reporting and, where appropriate, investigating incidents. IVF Wales informed
us of the incident on 5 December 2007 and an inspection was carried out two
days later. The clinic has acted on the recommendations made. A scheduled
inspection which took place in March 2008 examined the measures the clinics
had put in place and an HFEA licence committee concluded that the clinics
licence should continue with no additional conditions.
Our Code of Practice makes it clear that clinics must have witnessing
protocols in place to double check the identification of sperm, eggs and embryos
and the patients or donors to whom they belong.
IVF Wales has taken this incident very seriously and, for our part, they
have responded constructively to the recommendations made.
Out of more than 50,000 cycles of treatment, 0.5 per cent resulted in
an incident. Very few of these incidents are as serious as the one at IVF
Wales. It is impossible to eliminate human error. We strongly encourage clinics
to report all incidents and near misses, so that we can help them learn from
their mistakes and to spread best practice across the sector.”
Note about the source of this item: The HFEA is
the UK government's independent regulator for IVF treatment and embryo research.
Their role is to protect patients and the public interest, to drive improvement
in
the
treatment
and research sectors and to provide information to the public and policymakers
about treatment and research. The HFEA was set up in August 1991 as part of the
Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act (UK Law), 1990. The HFEA's principal
tasks are to license and monitor
clinics that carry out in vitro fertilisation (IVF), donor insemination (DI)
and human embryo research. The HFEA also regulates the storage of gametes (eggs
and sperm) and embryos.
News is included on the IvyRose website to inform visitors about current health
issues, but not to endorse any particular view or activity. Any views expressed
in the article above are not necessarily those of IvyRose Ltd.. Material in
this news item was released by the UK Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
(HFEA) on 15 June 2009
and may have been edited (e.g. in style, length, and/or for ease of understanding
by our international readers) for inclusion here. For further information, please
visit their website.
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