FERTILITY FAILIURES
The mistakes made in IVF clinics
Achild was born with cystic fibrosis after its parents had been mistakenly identified as not carrying the gene for the condition.
That was just one of 1,740 failures reported by fertility clinics across the UK between the years 2015 and 2018, according to statistics obtained under Freedom of Information laws.
There were 527 such incidents in 2017 alone, and the 2018 figure looks set to exceed this, with 170 reported in the first quarter of the year.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryonic Authority said that the vast majority of fertility treatment is carried out without any problems occurring, and that incidents in clinics are monitored to make sure that everything is done to understand what went wrong, and to take steps to ensure that it does not happen again.
Some 966 of the total reported “adverse incidents” over the threeyear period were classed as category C - the least serious category where harm was caused.
This type of incident can include adverse events or reactions, such as eggs being rendered unusable during processing.
A further 655 were classed as category B, which includes incidents such as the loss of embryos.
A further 118 incidents were classified as a “near miss” - where the event did not cause illness, injury or damage, but had the potential to do so.
There was only one category A incident, which involved the child with cystic fibrosis.
The disease is degenerative and has an average life expectancy of around 37 years.
The report following the incident which took place in 2016 - concluded that the screening results report from the pathology lab was not properly read by the treating clinician, nor signed and transposed into the patient’s medical record.
The clinic, in London, has since taken steps to ensure that similar mishaps do not occur again.
That incident - along with some 652 others - was categorised as a “clinical” failing - the most common type of mistake.
Some 459 other failings were to do with administration, and 179 were to do with the laboratory operator.
A further 81 failings related to a lack of proper consent to proceed with treatment.
Barts Health Centre for Reproductive Medicine, in London, had the highest number of incidents in the country, at 103.
It was followed by London Women’s Clinic (90), CARE Nottingham (76), and CARE Sheffield (64).
CARE Sheffield has also had the highest number of incidents in the first quarter of this year (13), followed by CARE Manchester (11).
However, a higher number of incidents doesn’t necessarily suggest a poorer service - it could simply be because some clinics deal with a higher number of patients.