The Homerton Fertility Centre reported three incidents in seven months last year that led to the loss of embryos.
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BY RON SHINKMAN
A reproductive medicine practice in London had its license suspended by the United Kingdom’s top fertility regulator after three incidents in recent months where embryos were mishandled, authorities said.
The Homerton Fertility Centre had its license suspended by the United Kingdom’s Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority on March 8. The suspension will remain in effect until at least May 8 while the clinic fixes issues cited by the regulator, according to a letter issued by the clinic’s parent organization, Homerton Healthcare.
“The HFEA License Committee made this decision because of the potential risk to patients, gametes and embryos if the clinic’s license is not suspended with immediate effect,” said HFEA Chief Executive Officer Peter Thompson in a statement.
The terms of the suspension did allow the clinic to continue to treat patients who were in the middle of IVF cycles, Homerton CEO Louise Ashley said in a letter to patients.
Homerton Healthcare is a regional healthcare provider affiliated with Britain’s National Health Service. It provides medical services in the Hackney and City of London neighborhoods in northeast London. Its fertility clinic has been licensed to operate since 1995.
According to Simon Lumsdon, who operates a consulting firm in the U.K. called Lighthouse Fertility, such suspensions of clinics are rare.
“It really doesn’t happen very often,” he said, adding that the U.K.’s regulation of fertility clinics is among the most robust in the world. “You have to have quite high standards just to be operating."
Shaun Rogers, a clinical scientist who has worked and consulted for numerous IVF laboratories in the United Kingdom, observed that fewer than five U.K. fertility clinics have had their licenses suspended or revoked in the 30 years he’s been in the business.
According to minutes of the March 7 HFEA License Committee meeting, the suspension was in the wake of three incidents at the clinic that took place last year that were reported to the regulator under NHS rules. The first incident occurred in May 2023 and involved not following the correct procedure for storing frozen embryos. The second incident, which took place in October, some frozen and stored embryos “displayed a lower rate of embryo thawing survival rate,” according to the minutes. The third incident, which took place in December, involved embryos missing from a cryogenic straw after the thawing process.
Additional details about the incidents were not available. The HFEA declined to comment beyond what is already in the public record, while a spokesperson for Homerton Healthcare did not respond to a request seeking comment. Ashley said in her letter to clinic patients that in each case other embryos were located and that the IVF cycles were completed
These incidents were not the first indication that Homerton Fertility’s operations were troubled. According to minutes from an HFEA License Committee meeting from May of last year, Homerton Fertility “has had a poor history of compliance in recent years and has been subject to considerable regulatory scrutiny.”
An April 2021 inspection for the renewal of the clinic’s license turned up issues. That inspection “identified two critical areas of non-compliance relating to swab counts performed during surgical procedures and the reporting of adverse incidents and near misses.” A followup inspection in March 2022 indicated that some improvements had been made but that the HFEA was “made aware of several whistleblowing communications from various sources. The concerns raised included leadership, working conditions, the welfare of patients and staff, training, policies and procedures, decision-making, non-reporting of incidents, and information to be provided to patients.” The agency also noted that the center was short-staffed in comparison to the volume of procedures it performed.
Nevertheless, the HFEA License Committee agreed to renew Homerton’s license for three years with an interim inspection to take place one year after the approval was granted.
Lumsdon observed that these events along with the more recent mishaps is what led to the suspension.
“You have to almost repeatedly push and push and push to get to this point where your license is (suspended),” he said.
In response to the suspension, the clinic said in two separate letters to patients that all of its staffers now work in pairs; all of the licenses and competencies of the staff have been vetted and verified, and that the fertility clinic’s security had been improved.
Lumsdon believes the issues at Homerton partly reflect austere funding of the NHS over the past decade-and-a-half. Fifteen years ago, funding for Britain’s single-payer system routinely rose 5.5% per year. It’s been trending about half of that in recent years
Lumsdon did add that some NHS-operated fertility centers are able to overcome the wage disparity through their affiliations with prestigious teaching hospitals.
“Homerton didn’t really have that draw,” he said.
The content and themes expressed within the article are that of the news. The advertiser does not have editorial control over the content of this article, and Inside Reproductive Health maintains full editorial independence. The views and opinions expressed in this article do not represent the views of the Advertiser or of Inside Reproductive Health.
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