March 2002
A summary of the one hundred and sixteenth meeting of the
Human Fertilisation & Embryology Authority on 21st March 2002
Suzi Leather welcomed Members to the first meeting under her Chairmanship and thanked everyone for their support, particularly Julia Tugenhat and Jane Denton.
Matters arising from the February meeting
The minutes of the February meeting were approved subject to several minor amendments.
The Chair informed Members of her informal meeting with the Deputy Chair of the Care Standards Commission (CSC) at which it had been agreed to hold a joint meeting of the Chairs and Chief Executives of the HFEA and the CSC.
The Chair informed Members that the Department of Health had been briefed on the concerns expressed by Persons Responsible about their legal indemnification. Discussions with the British Fertility Society about this matter would continue.
Conflicts of interest
In the light of heightened interest in transparency and conflicts of interest, the Chair asked whether current HFEA policy in regard to conflict of interests was sufficiently robust.
Members' views were given and it was noted that Authority Members had been selected by the Secretary of State for their specialised expertise, so it would be inappropriate for them to be excluded from discussion. It was also noted that HFEA policy is that Members withdraw from discussions in which they have an interest and do not sit on Licence Committees if they carry out related clinic inspections. Members' interests were set out in the Annual Report.
The Chair stressed that it was imperative to retain the expert character of the Authority while also being seen to be above reproach. The Chair informed the Authority that she intended to ask two lay Members to carry out a review of current HFEA practice and to produce a report to the Authority.
On the issue of conflicts of interest and licence fee decisions, the Chair felt that while Authority Members who were involved with clinics had a useful contribution to make in discussions on fees, it was not appropriate for them to take part in actual decisions.
It was agreed that Members' interests would be updated regularly and would be available on the HFEA website.
Regulation
The Chief Executive outlined some issues that had arisen from the inspection of clinics and Members agreed there was a need to pay particular attention to issues of patient safety, the welfare of the child, breaches of the law and the storage of embryos and gametes.
Update on Strategic and Business Planning
The Director of Finance explained the circumstances that had led to certain failures in the IT system and outlined the actions that had been taken to prevent a similar situation from occurring in the future.
It was noted that the Department of Health had agreed to make some additional funding available to resolve some of the problems with the Register subject to the provision of an appropriate business case.
The Chair asked Members to agree or otherwise the recommendations to switch to monthly billing. The Members unanimously agreed.
Sex Selection
The Director of Strategic and Corporate Development updated Members on a review of the issue of sex selection commissioned by the Department of Health. A steering group had been established to oversee this project. The outline review had been agreed upon, including research and consultation. The Report would come before the Authority with the intention of submitting it to Ministers by the end of the year. Public discussions, stakeholder meetings and focus groups were planned. Members asked that the subject be discussed more fully at the next meeting of the Authority.
Embryo Stem Cell Research
The Chief Executive reported that the Medical Research Council had set up four committees to help them establish integrated systems for the banking of embryonic, foetal and adult stem cell lines. Each committee will be responsible for a) overseeing the establishment of the Bank; b) developing procedures for the undertaking of stem cell research and banking of cell lines; c) identifying and co-ordinating future funding priorities for stem cell research; and d) making recommendations for the citing of the stem cell bank. The bank should be operational by early 2003. The HFEA will assist with the legal processes.
Patients' Guides and Register
Members agreed that, in the interests of transparency and openness, it was appropriate to acknowledge publicly that the Register was compromised as a consequence of IT problems experienced by the Authority. It was noted that it would be necessary to re-obtain data. A draft letter explaining the situation to clinics was tabled and agreed subject to several alterations suggested by Members.
Members were concerned that clinics should be assured that the problems experienced by the HFEA were being addressed and rectified.
Members suggested that the Chair take the opportunity of an address at the British Fertility Society conference to make a statement about this. The Chair confirmed that she also intended to raise issues relating to the need for a new fee structure, the Authority's aim to work more closely with clinics, and to make the work of the HFEA more open to patients and the public.
It was agreed to publish the Annual Report as soon as possible.
ESHRE
Members were concerned that ESHRE had been provided with statistics that had been calculated from a different source to those supplied previously. There was concern that the recently supplied data did not correctly reflect the activity levels and success rates of clinics and so it may be misleading.
It was agreed that the data would be withdrawn from ESHRE until it was verified.
Other Business
Members received a short verbal report on intended future developments to improve the HFEA website.
Date of next meeting
The date of the next Authority meeting is Thursday 23rd May 2002.
Page last updated: 24 October 2011