IVF treatment mistakes treble in three years

Published on Saturday 13 August 2011 18:09

The number of mistakes or near-misses in IVF treatment in Britain have more than trebled in three years, new figures have revealed.

Errors which include the loss of patients' embryos and sperm have risen to 564 between April 2010 and March 2011 - up from 182 between April 2007 and March 2008, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA).

But the figures, released after a Freedom of Information request by Irwin Mitchell solicitors, also showed that the number of Category A incidents - described as those with "major or serious" consequences for patients, embryo, gamete or staff safety and service quality - fell from eight to one in the same period.

Between April 2005 and March 2006 the number of incidents classed as Category A was 91.

Solicitor Guy Forster, represented a number of couples whose IVF treatment failed after clinical errors, said: "Since 2008, incidents as a whole have more than trebled. Although it should be recognised that 564 incidents represents a small proportion of the 50,000 IVF cycles carried out in the UK each year, when things do go wrong, it causes the most unimaginable heartache for those involved and it is vital that both the clinic in question and the IVF industry as a whole learn lessons for the future."