Patient Charter

itrust fertility offers fertility treatment, diagnostics and services for NHS and private patients. Our whole approach and ethos is to ensure we provide patients with the highest quality care before, during and after their treatment – and that we hold ourselves accountable for delivery of that care. This charter explains precisely how we deliver against that commitment.

Patients’ clinical care is carried out by qualified and experienced practitioners and staff.

All surgeons, doctors and anaesthetists with practising privileges at itrust fertility’s facilities are fully registered with the General Medical Council (GMC), hold a Licence to Practice, and have their work reviewed every year by our Governance team. Each GMC-registered member is rigorously bound by the GMC Members’ Code of Conduct which ensures they always act with integrity, accountably and honesty – in the primary interest of their patients.

Nurse-practitioners and employees at our facilities are fully accredited by the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC).

All clinicians with practising privileges at itrust fertility’s and clinics have a UK-based insurance policy in place, which is provided to itrust fertility’s clinical governance team prior to the clinician commencing work with the Group. This is verified in advance of renewal on an annual basis.

All of itrust fertility’s procedures are undertaken in a safe environment which adheres to the highest standards of clinical excellence.

Patients undergoing surgical procedures receive care, best suited to their clinical needs, in itrust fertility’s purpose-built centres located in Eastbourne, Bromley and Brighton.

Our centres are dedicated to male and female infertility treatment and services. All centres and location adhere to the highest clinical standards and are subject to rigorous inspections both via regular internal audit, and by the relevant regulatory authority, namely the Care Quality Commission (CQC), HFEA and ISO. Our facilities are inspected in the same way as all NHS and private hospitals and results are made publicly available for patient review.

We are open and transparent and submit data at an organisational level to a range of independent healthcare bodies that measure and track our performance.

Patients undergoing non-surgical procedures will do so in the dedicated facilities embedded within the satellite centres and outpatient clinics and are, as a result, subject to the same clinical standards, regulated by the CQC and HFEA.

We provide data on pregnancy rates, complaints, incidents and complications in our group on an on-going basis to a range of bodies, including the CQC, HFEA, ISO and NHS CCG’s.

We enable patients to make informed decisions so that they have full control of their care.

We are open on issues that affect patients’ clinical care and the potential risks of elective procedures. Patients will have several engagements with our multi-disciplinary team prior to their procedures and treatment and they are able to discuss their treatment with their consultant/nurse practitioner at any time and at no extra cost.

We make patients aware of their success rates prior to starting treatment and any associated risks throughout their consultation period. We conduct a quarterly review of our processes and protocols to communicate risk to patients, to ensure that they remain in line with the latest best practice as recognised across the sector. We regularly review and update our duty of candour protocols, which all surgeons adhere to.

All patients have the ability to request their patient records any time they wish. We ensure that companies that supply the itrust fertility with medical devices provide products that carry the CE mark of approval.

Furthermore, there are a range of robust checks and balances in place to ensure the medical suitability of each patient undergoing treatment at itrust fertility.

We listen to patients and their concerns; and we believe that patients’ views and feedback are invaluable in ensuring that we uphold the highest standards of patient care across our centres.

We actively seek patients’ perspective on their experience with the itrust fertility– and their ideas, views or needs are listened to and responded to by our staff at every level.

We regularly engage with current and former patients to obtain a non-clinical perspective on the way we work, ensuring that we continue to deliver excellent patient-centric care. This includes an annual review of our patient charter to ensure that we are performing to the standards we have set ourselves.

We undertake patient satisfaction surveys across our facilities, which are returned by patients, before, during and after their procedure. We have a robust process in place to ensure that all feedback is reported to and addressed by the appropriate teams, with outcomes shared with and reviewed by our Governance Committee and Patient Panel, on a quarterly basis.

Any concerns and complaints that patients raise to itrust fertility are dealt with fairly, consistently and promptly.

We take all patient complaints seriously and have in place a clear complaints policy that is in line with the principals, procedures and practices set out in the CQC Regulation 16 and the Independent Sector Complaint Adjudication Service (ISCAS) code of practice.

Our marketing activity is honest and transparent, and we ensure that patients enter their procedure with a clear understanding of their treatment

We have a marketing code of practice that conforms to and surpasses the guidelines of the Advertising Standards Authority. Occasionally, and in rare instances, it is possible that a complaint about the marketing practices is reported. Where any such complaints are found to be validated we take immediate steps to remedy the issue and ensure it is not repeated.

In our code of practice, we have committed to: ensuring that our marketing materials are authentic and representative of the outcomes of fertility treatment, to providing patients with the materials and information to help them make an informed decision about their care; and to ensuring that all our marketing activity demonstrates our commitment to play a responsible and leadership role in the fertility sector.

Created by Kuljit Moore-Juneja Authorised by T Bees