F-2010-00189 - Register data with clinic-specific information
14 September 2010
Summary of request
The Authority was asked for version of the HFEA’s anonymised register data with clinic information attached to each record.
HFEA response
Register data is published on the HFEA website at http://www.hfea.gov.uk/5874.html in an anonymised form. As part of the anonymisation procedure that takes place prior to the publication of the anonymised register data the link to clinic information is removed. This is to ensure that no one to whom the data relates can be identified. To disclose the information you have requested (a version of the anonymised register data with clinic information attached to each record) may result in a breach of the confidentiality provisions of section 33A of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (as amended). This information is therefore exempt from the general entitlement to disclosure provided by section 1 of the FOIA under section 44 of that Act and your request for this information is therefore refused.
Information about the procedure for applying for patient identifying information for approved research can be found on the HFEA website at: http://www.hfea.gov.uk/5451.html.
A significant amount of information about licensed activities carried out by individual clinics, and their outcomes, may, however, be found using the ‘choose a fertility clinic’ function on the HFEA website (see: http://guide.hfea.gov.uk/guide/AdvancedSearch.aspx). This function allows treatment outcome data to be sorted in relation to year, type of treatment, age of patient, and source of embryos. The ‘choose a fertility clinic’ function allows the examination of the last 3 years’ worth of verified data; clinic outcome data from earlier periods is available via the ‘archive of clinic data’ page of the HFEA website (see: http://www.hfea.gov.uk/uk-fertility-clinic-data.html).
Page last updated: 09 August 2012