Health Minister announces new HFEA Members
24 November 2003
Health Minister Melanie Johnson today announced the appointment of two new members to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and the reappointment of five existing members.
Melanie Johnson said:
"I am delighted to announce the appointment of two new members, Ms Jennifer Hunt and the Rt. Rev Richard Harries, Bishop of Oxford, to the HFEA. Their backgrounds in infertility counselling and as a leading member of the Anglican Church will be of great value to the Authority. I am also pleased to announce that Professor Tom Baldwin, Professor David Barlow, Mr Ivor Brecker, Professor Iain Cameron and Mr Simon Jenkins have accepted my invitation to serve a further three-year term.
"Members of the HFEA are not appointed as representatives of different groups, but bring to the Authority a wide range of medical, scientific and lay expertise. The HFEA continues to face new ethical and scientific challenges as technology and understanding in the field of reproductive medicine develop. I am confident that the new members of the HFEA will make a valuable contribution towards the HFEA's important work in regulating clinics and ensuring patient safety."
The HFEA regulates in vitro fertilisation (IVF), human embryo research and other assisted conception services in the UK. Its function is to ensure that all UK centres offering these services conform to high medical and professional standards and are inspected regularly. The HFEA collects comprehensive data about such treatments, and provides detailed advice and information to the public.
Ends
Notes to Editors
The HFEA was established in 1991 by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990. Its principal task is to license and regulate clinics that carry out in vitro fertilisation (IVF), donor insemination (DI) or human embryo research or store human sperm, eggs or embryos.
New members:
- Ms Jennifer Hunt is Senior Infertility Counsellor at the Wolfson Clinic at Hammersmith Hospital.
- The Rt. Rev. Richard Harries is the Bishop of Oxford.
The re-appointed members:
- Professor Tom Baldwin is Professor of Philosophy at the University of York.
- Professor David Barlow is the Nuffield Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Head of Department at the University of Oxford. He is also Clinical Director of the Oxford Fertility Centre at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford.
- Mr Ivor Brecker is a retired General Dental Practitioner and was previously Dental Reference Officer of the Dental Practice Board.
- Professor Iain Cameron is Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Southampton and Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust.
- Mr Simon Jenkins is a journalist and a columnist in The Times and the London Evening Standard.
Page last updated: 12 March 2009
