{"id":260556,"date":"2025-07-13T03:20:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-13T03:20:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/260556\/"},"modified":"2025-07-13T03:20:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-13T03:20:26","slug":"nhs-clinic-allegedly-tested-embryos-over-fear-they-could-go-to-wrong-parents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/260556\/","title":{"rendered":"NHS clinic allegedly \u2018tested embryos over fear they could go to wrong parents\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Staff at an NHS fertility clinic had to DNA test embryos over concerns a baby would end up with the wrong family, it has been alleged.<\/p>\n

Homerton Fertility Centre, which provides treatments such as IVF for NHS and private patients, had its licence suspended in March last year after a number of \u201cserious untoward incidents\u201d were reported to the regulator. This included the loss and destruction of embryos after being thawed. The clinic reopened in December, after months of investigation. <\/p>\n

One scientist who worked at the clinic before its closure alleged they had to DNA test a batch of embryos after it emerged that a technician had not recorded the processes properly.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t be surprised if someone [had] ended up with a baby in the wrong family,\u201d they said. \u201cI\u2019ve never worked in a worse clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n

In March 2024, the Human Fertility and Embryology Authority (HFEA) banned the clinic from seeing patients after it emerged that dozens of embryos had accidentally been lost or destroyed<\/a> in a series of errors. The HFEA said in July 2024 that the clinic could restart seeing patients the following month and the Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, which runs it, apologised to those affected.<\/p>\n

\"Exterior<\/p>\n

Homerton University Hospital in east London, where the fertility clinic is located<\/p>\n

JORDAN PETTITT\/PA<\/p>\n

Last month, the HFEA released the minutes of a meeting in which, after an unannounced inspection in March, it said that there were no areas for improvement, the clinic had effective leadership and 80 per cent of patients said the service was good or very good. <\/p>\n

The centre has been said to be experiencing financial difficulties after the closure and reopening. It is alleged the clinic had a financial deficit of about \u00a34 million for 2024-25, while forecasts show it is due to overspend by \u00a32 million for 2025-26.<\/p>\n

It is understood the clinic has struggled to attract patients \u2014 who privately pay more than \u00a34,000 for one cycle of IVF \u2014 since its reopening. One employee claimed it was \u201cnot sustainable to remain open\u201d. The centre sees about five NHS patients a week, whereas a clinic of its size would usually expect to see dozens, the source claimed. The level of NHS funding it receives is not dependent on how many NHS patients it treats.<\/p>\n

In the minutes released last month, the HFEA also said that there were \u201csome inconsistencies\u201d with how donor sperm was prepared for insemination between 2021 and 2024, although the issues had been rectified since the clinic reopened.<\/p>\n

The employee claimed that, before the centre\u2019s closure, management \u201cdid not know how to deal with donor sperm\u201d and that this resulted in some women not becoming pregnant.<\/p>\n

\u2018Errors right, left and centre\u2019 before closure<\/p>\n

The Times can reveal that the law firm Fletchers Solicitors is representing several women who were patients at the clinic before its closure, seeking answers from Homerton University Hospital over claims of medical negligence.<\/p>\n

The women\u2019s lives \u201chave been profoundly impacted<\/a>, not only by the physical and emotional trauma, but also by the uncertainty around their ability to ever start or grow their families\u201d, a spokesperson for the law firm said. \u201cSome have been unable to try again due to the emotional toll; others have lost their only chance.\u201d<\/p>\n

Staff who worked at the clinic before its closure spoke of a poor working environment and an error-strewn culture at that time. One staff member only lasted a few weeks before going on stress leave. They claimed staff members were \u201cmaking errors right, left and centre\u201d and when they tried to report incidents, they were told not to make a fuss.<\/p>\n

The former employee said that some team members were not registered with the Health and Care Professions Council, as is required, and some were not embryologists at all.<\/p>\n

\"Homerton<\/p>\n

The clinic has reopened, and in March an inspection found 80 per cent of patients said the service was good or very good<\/p>\n

CARL COURT\/GETTY IMAGES<\/p>\n

Another scientist who worked at the clinic before before it was partially suspended said staff members were being paid for full-time work but only coming in half the time. The scientist said that they tried to put together a rota, but senior staff told them to stop and they left the clinic shortly after.<\/p>\n

Each of those who worked at the clinic before its closure said that staff would join the clinic and leave within months, meaning shortages were commonplace.<\/p>\n

In 2022, Homerton Fertility Centre stopped taking new patients over staff vacancies. Freedom of Information requests revealed that 19 staff members voluntarily resigned that year.<\/p>\n

There are 43 staff members at the clinic. Last year it posted at least 12 job adverts.<\/p>\n

\u2018Fit to have licence continued\u2019<\/p>\n

Peter Thompson, chief executive of the HFEA, said: \u201cThe HFEA is responsible for the regulation of fertility treatment across the UK and for ensuring that licensed clinics carry out treatment safely and lawfully. We are confident we have investigated the issues raised with us at the Homerton Fertility Centre where they relate to fertility treatment. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe HFEA has had heightened regulatory oversight of the Homerton Fertility Centre for several years. This included suspending the clinic\u2019s licence<\/a> between March and August 2024 because of significant concerns about the clinic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe HFEA only lifted the licence suspension when it was satisfied that the clinic had accepted and acted on all the actions identified by an independent investigation commissioned by the Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust. <\/p>\n

\u201cSince the clinic\u2019s phased reopening in late 2024, the HFEA has undertaken an unannounced inspection, held regular meetings with the Trust\u2019s leadership, and investigated matters, including whistleblowing allegations, raised directly with us and which fall within the HFEA\u2019s legal remit.<\/p>\n

\u201cFollowing the unannounced inspection in March 2025, the HFEA\u2019s licence committee considered the report and agreed in June that is satisfied the Homerton Fertility Centre is fit to have its licence continued\u201d.<\/p>\n

Homerton Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: \u201cThe Homerton Fertility Clinic reopened last year under new leadership, and following a thorough assessment, the HFEA reinstated its licence. Our adherence to high clinical and regulatory standards is under constant internal governance and external assessment by the HFEA and is in compliance. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe HFEA licence committee recently agreed that an interim inspection report following an unannounced visit to the centre in March was \u2018very positive and encouraging\u2019, noting that there were \u2018no areas of practice that required improvement\u2019.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Staff at an NHS fertility clinic had to DNA test embryos over concerns a baby would end up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":260557,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4316],"tags":[105,4348,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-260556","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-healthcare","8":"tag-health","9":"tag-healthcare","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114843774193213258","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=260556"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/260556\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/260557"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=260556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=260556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=260556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}