Firstly, I wanted to let you know that I’m doing a takeover today on The Fertility Show Instagram account, so I’d love you to come and say hello @thefertilityshow.
I’ve been camping this weekend with my best pal, who I’ve not seen for two years and she was the person who held my hand during our treatment, as she had been through three rounds ahead of conceiving twins.
It’s a bumper episode this week as we wanted to make sure you knew about a new piece of guidance that has been published by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA). Which is to help fertility clinics comply with their consumer law obligations but also provides guidance for you when considering purchasing IVF treatment.
It will seem strange to think of this as a purchase, but it is as you are patient and a consumer and it’s very likely that you haven’t thought about fertility treatments in that way before.
This is why it’s equally important that fertility clinics are fair and that you know your rights when it comes to consumer law.
In this episode is a round table chat with Clare Ettinhauser Director of Strategy and Corporate Affairs at the HFEA and Patient Advocate and founder of @uberbarrensclub – Katy Linderman. Plus we caught up with consultant gynaecologist Raj Mathur, chair of the British Fertility Society.
The HFEA website is the most concise place to start when choosing a fertility clinic and Clare recommends paying attention to the individual clinics Live Birth rates which are collated and ratified by the HFEA every 2 years but are unlikely to differ very much in that time. Clare also talked about the benefits of attending, either in person or virtually, clinic open days.
For the CMA review, we were keen to speak with Katy, as she worked as a patient advisor to the CMA and it’s really obvious from reading the review that the patients’ best interests are at the centre of every aspect. She explained how important it was for patients to have accurate and timely information to help them make the right treatment choices and that there is a great deal of work clinics need to do to adhere to this new guidance.
You may wonder what power the HFEA can have when it comes to ensuring clinics follow and adhere to this guidance, sadly none so we will be keeping on a close eye on what does change and listening to your experiences.
Have a watch about the guidance here.
We had a quick catch-up with Raj Mathur, to get his clinical opinion on the CMA guidance. He starts by stating that the British Fertility Society welcomes this guidance, and he is pleased that the CMA has appeared to have consulted widely with clinicians, however, he does have concerns – in particular about how easy it will be for clinics to implement the guidance and how this will be policed.
Raj feels that there is so much information in the guidance that it is overly complicated and potentially could become a tick box exercise and risk impacting negatively on the patient-doctor relationship.
Do have a listen and let us know your thoughts, as it would be great to know whether this makes you feel more confident in how you will be treated.
