Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government to what extent the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority has the power to stop private fertility clinics from offering additional in vitro fertilisation treatments which are not scientifically proven to be effective and could be putting women’s health at risk; and what remedies will be open to those who are adversely affected.

Neither the Department nor the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) have yet made an assessment of the recent study from the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine published on 28 November 2016.

The HFEA has advised that it has become increasingly concerned about fertility clinics offering a range of treatment add-ons. The HFEA has the same regulatory powers for both private and National Health Service clinics, however, it has limited powers over treatment add-ons, that may not fall within the remit of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1991 (1990 Act). The HFEA does have broad powers relating to the provision of information to patients, and for some time its website has published information on reproductive immunology and preimplantation genetic screening. The new HFEA website, which will be launched in spring 2017, will provide clear information about the evidence base of a wide range of treatment add-ons, highlighting their effectiveness or potential harm, so that patients are able to make informed decisions about their treatment.

The HFEA is the national regulator for fertility treatments and services that come within the regulatory framework established by the 1990 Act. Private fertility clinics may need to register with other regulatory bodies, such as the Care Quality Commission, if they carry out any activities that fall within that body’s statutory remit.