Statement about Guy's Hospital Assisted Conception Unit
29 April 2009
The HFEA has issued the following statement in response to recent newspaper reports re incidents at Guy’s and St Thomas’s Hospital Assisted Conception Unit.
An HFEA spokesperson said:
“Since 2006, there have been a number of incidents reported at Guy’s. Two incidents are currently the subject of an investigation.
“We understand that this may cause anxiety for patients and staff at the unit. Our aim is to reassure them by resolving this issue as quickly as we can.
“Where incidents occur, this unit reports them immediately. These are then managed according to our protocol. Risk assessments are undertaken and, where necessary, procedures are changed. This is our well established policy for learning from incidents, and has been followed with full co-operation from the trust.
“However, there are no guarantees against human error or other failure. By learning from incidents we can improve systems and reduce the risk of recurrence. This unit is the process of introducing a new electronic tracking system that is designed to address the issue identified.
“Until the ongoing investigation is complete, we are not able to comment further.”
Page last updated: 29 April 2009