03:00 13th February 2014 | Accredited IVF Centre
Quality Mangement IVF Treatment Ovarian Stimulation Protocol Maintainance Laboratory Media Incubators Room Temperature VOC Egg Collection Follicular Fluid HFEA Reproductive Medicine IVF Specialists Biological Science Obstetrician Gyneacologist Professional Body
What does quality management mean to you?
Quality management ensures that the IVF treatment that you receive is good enough to provide you with your best chance of
getting pregnant. It means;
Experience and expertise
In choosing your IVF clinic it is particularly important to investigate the experience of the clinic as evidenced by their track record as
well as the expertise of personnel as evidenced by their competencies. In developed countries couples investigating IVF clinics have access to their track record of success rates via
league tables.
Most regulatory bodies, for example the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) in the United Kingdom, publish these data on their websites with emphasis on the fact that the under listed information should be considered in line with other parameters;
The track record of a clinic becomes particularly relevant as one can holistically review the service offerings of the clinic being considered with respect to the patients diagnoses; the average age of patients treated and the average duration of infertility and make associations with their success rates as a centre. Unfortunately these systems do not exist in developing countries like Nigeria and there are no clear systems for regulation of IVF practices or practitioners. The responsibility is then on each clinic to present itself credibly to prospective patients. Options include the ratification of the clinic’s results by a credible auditing firm, with expertise in auditing healthcare institutions or as part of inspection reports by an international accreditation body.
The expertise of the personnel in the fertility clinic should be of utmost importance to a couple when choosing a clinic. IVF, with its high dependence on technology and cutting edge
research, requires that the personnel delivering service are highly trained and retrained. There are no programmes in our tertiary systems in Nigeria that train people, on a
technical level, in Reproductive Medicine and IVF specialists in Nigeria largely learn on the job. That said, the centre is mandated to invest in training and retraining of its
personnel by affiliations with organisations which can provide this expertise. The person responsible for the fertility clinic should possess the relevant academic qualifications in
the field of medical or biological sciences from a recognised tertiary institution as well as a minimum of two (2) years of practical experience in reproductive medicine. He or she
would be responsible for ensuring that proper equipment is used in the unit; that arrangements exist for the storage of human gametes and human embryos as well their disposal should
the need arise, that the clinic operates according to laid down protocols in a suitable premises, that patient records are protected, that the clinic operates within the moral and
ethical frameworks of the society and ultimately be responsible for the establishment and implementation of an accredited quality management system. To achieve these, the person
responsible must have demonstrated integrity and possess the managerial authority and capabilities for the execution of his duties.
Furthermore there must be established relationships between the responsible person and external specialists to assure professionalism in the management of the clinic. The clinic
should have a sufficient number if medical, nursing, embryology and counselling personnel in its operational team who should have relevant academic qualifications from recognised
institutions of learning, registration with the relevant professional bodies and be proficient in their areas of responsibility. They should be trained as well as regularly updated as
dictated by procedural changes and advancements in their field and must be able to demonstrate up-to-date awareness of new and emerging trends in their field.
The clinic should have a designate with overall clinical responsibility who should be a registered Obstetrician and Gynaecologist with an award upon completion of his training from a recognised professional body.
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