IMPORTANT INFORMATION TO ALL OUR PATIENTS REGARDING CORONAVIRUS.


Update -3rd July 2020

This week our fertility specialist nurses have been contacting patients awaiting treatment and telephone consultation clinics have begun. We have seen the first patients coming through for frozen embryo transfer cycles and hope to see patients for fresh cycles in the next two weeks. Please remember to follow government guidance on social distancing and be aware of the need to self isolate during your treatment. 
 
Please do not attend the unit unless you have a booked appointment.

 

 


Kingston  Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit - statement 26th June 2020

We are delighted to announce that we have now received approval for starting IVF treatment including egg collections on site. Patients who are on our waiting lists will be contacted by the nursing staff by email to arrange a telephone consultation to discuss the self-isolation requirements and to plan their forthcoming treatment cycle.  We request that patients do not call the unit and wait for our team to make contact.

 


Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit - statement 19th June 2020

We have this week had approval to proceed with Frozen Embryo and clomid treatments.  Our nursing team will be contacting patients from early next week to discuss arrangements.

 

Please can we remind patients that the semen analysis drop off point is outside the hospital and that we request you not to enter the hospital to drop off the sample. This is to reduce footfall within the hospital.

 
Please follow social distancing guidance in preparation for forthcoming treatments.


Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 12th June 2020

We are pleased to confirm that the semen analysis (sperm) service, HyCoSy scanning service and phlebotomy (blood taking service) have been successfully up and running this week.

Please can we remind patients that the semen analysis drop off point is outside the hospital and that we request you not to enter the hospital to drop off the sample. This is to reduce footfall within the hospital. 

GP referrals for investigation of fertility are now being accepted and patients who were already in the pathway are being contacted to re-activate their investigations prior to telephone consultation with a fertility doctor.

IVF treatments (including Frozen Embryo Transfer) have not started as yet as we are still establishing the pathways to make it a safe journey for patients and staff. This is a little more complex in the NHS setting as are there are a number of services to consider at the same time – we are grateful for your patience in this matter and can assure we are making every effort to expedite this.

Please be aware that patients hoping to undertake treatment will need to conform to guidance to minimise risk of infection prior to treatment and to self isolate throughout the treatment cycle. Both partners will have Covid swabs taken at the beginning of the treatment cycle and before egg collection to ensure that they are not infected.  Unfortunately if a patient becomes symptomatic or positive during treatment then the cycle will automatically be cancelled.

 


 Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 5th June 2020

 

We will be resuming semen analysis, HyCoSy scans and phlebotomy (blood taking) services from Monday 8 June.  Telephone fertility consultations clinics continue and new patient referrals are now being accepted.

  

We hope to have further news regarding assisted conception treatments next week.

 

We are committed to starting your fertility treatments as soon as we can and your safety remains our priority.

 

Thank you for your continued patience.​

 

 

 

 

Kingston Hospital -Assisted Conception Unit Statement 29th May 2020

We have made progress this week with our plans to resume services and hope to have an update next week.  Thank you for your patience, stay safe and stay well.


Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 22nd May 2020

We continue with plans to re-establish a safe and effective service.  The plan for fertility testing (sperm analysis, blood tests & hycosy scans) is to resume within the next three weeks.

We are developing covid patient information leaflets and new covid consents that will be required for patients undergoing assisted conception treatments.  We are looking at the pathways to introduce mandatory covid testing that will be part of your treatment cycles in the future.  We need to ensure that we comply with Kingston Foundation Trust, HFEA, NHS England protocols and we are awaiting the go-ahead.

Unfortunately this week we are unable to announce a date when assisted conception treatments (Frozen embryo transfer & IVF ICSI) will start.  Thank you for your patience.

We hope that you stay safe and follow the social distancing guidelines so that you remain well for when you restart your treatment.

  

Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 15th May 2020

We are pleased to let you know that HFEA approval to resume services has been granted. We are in the process of developing local plans to resume assisted conception treatment. 

Staff were redeployed to assist with the pandemic response and we are pleased that some of our staff will be repatriated from next week. We hope to resume fertility diagnostic services within three weeks.

We would like to thank you for your patience. We are aware that our patients are anxious to resume their fertility pathway as soon as possible and we would like to reassure you that we are doing our best to achieve this. 

 

Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 7th May 2020

We have been working hard this week to revise our practices and write protocols to ensure that we can safely treat our fertility patients at Kingston Hospital Foundation Trust.

Guidelines were  published yesterday by the British Fertility Society and there has been advice from HFEA on how to apply for approval to re-commence services. This is a requirement for all Assisted Conception Units in both the NHS and private sectors.

It may take a little time but we would like to re-assure you that we will be making every effort to get the treatment programme up and running as soon as we can and to welcome you back into Kingston ACU. 

Your safely and wellbeing is our priority.

We plan to update the website regularly to keep you informed. 

 

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 4th May 2020

On the 1st May 2020 the Health Secretary announced that fertility treatments should be reinstated and the HFEA have agreed that clinics can apply to reopen from the week commenting 11th May 2020.  We welcome this news and look forward to reopening our service. 
 
However, before we can reopen we need to ensure the safety of our patients and staff and we are currently working on this programme to ensure we have the correct measures in place, which includes working with our embryology partners.
 
We will contact patients when we have a robust strategy in place and explain the next steps.  We request that you do not contact the clinic directly we will keep this website updated. 
 
For further information please see the HFEA website;
 
 

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Kingston Hospital - Assisted Conception Unit Statement 19th March 2020

PLEASE DO NOT ATTEND THE UNIT UNLESS YOU BEEN SPECIFICALLY ASKED TO.  DUE TO THE CORONAVIRUS, WE ASK ALL OUR PATIENTS TO PLEASE TELEPHONE THE UNIT BEFORE ATTENDING, FOR FURTHER ADVICE.

We have been following national guidance about sensible steps that Kingston Hospital and other health services should be taking to limit the spread of Coronavirus.  Here at the Assisted Conception Unit we have also been reviewing advice from The British Fertility Society and the Association of Reproductive and Clinical Scientists.

As a result, we have had to make the difficult decision to temporarily stop ALL fertility and assisted conception treatments here at Kingston Hospital (this includes all tests, investigations, scans, blood tests, semen analysis, consultations and IVF/ICSI/IUI/FET treatments).  It is difficult to say at this current time when we will be able to offer these treatment/services.   We will continue to monitor the situation and review national guidance.  Please check our website for further updates.

We understand the distress and disappointment  this will undoubtedly cause to our patients, but, unfortunately, this is now necessary.  This is due to several reasons including redeployment of staff, reduced anaesthetist cover, the possibility of staff being unable to work due to self-isolation or illness and reducing the pressure on the NHS for any common IVF complications.  In addition, not bringing patients into the hospital will also minimise the spread of the virus and reduce the impact on the local NHS services which are likely to be stretched to an unprecedented extent.

Any patients currently undergoing treatment or due to have treatment will have already been contacted by one of our team.  If you have not currently started treatment you will be contacted once we are in a position to start consultations and treatment again.  Please feel reassured that every patient will be managed going forward.  As soon as we are in a position to safely re-start treatments we will contact patients.  

We are aware that some patients may be concerned that delaying their treatment may affect their eligibility according to the current guidance, for example their age may be outside the criteria if treatment is delayed. We have already been working with our Clinical Commissioning Groups regarding this and any patients affected will be reviewed on a case by case basis. 

Everyone at the Assisted Conception Unit is looking forward to welcoming our patients back to the service as soon as it is safe to do so. In the meantime, if you have any concerns about your health and Coronavirus please visit https://111.nhs.uk/

 

Welcome to Our Assisted Conception Unit

We treat both NHS and private patients. Our philosophy of care is to always place the couple at the heart of our service. We were established at Queen Mary's Hospital in Roehampton, South London in 1994 and relocated to Kingston Hospital in June 2012. Many babies have been born after successful treatment here.

  • An established centre, having provided excellent quality assisted conception for over 20 years.
  • Evidence based personalised treatment plans delivered by a dedicated multidisciplinary team.
  • Excellent success rates. 
  • Extremely cost effective for our self funded patients with all treatments individually costed so that you will always know the TOTAL price at the outset.

We are very proud of the Success Rates which we have achieved.  Between 1994 and July 2014 our embryology was provided by The Bridge Centre and between July 2014 and March 2015 we used London Women's Clinic. Our results were submitted to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) and these validated results are available by clicking the links in the download section of this website. Since April 2015 we have been working with King's College Hospital in Denmark Hill and our most recent results have been excellent. Please click here to see our very latest clinical pregnancy results