2022 is almost over, and we are fast approaching “the most wonderful family time of the year!” Unfortunately, this is not the case for people dealing with infertility, and for whom family gatherings with children are painful reminders of their own fertility issues. Our thoughts are with them. Our counsellor Mollie Graneek wrote a very insightful blog with tips to cope with Christmas “when all you want to do is hide away…”
This year we saw 220 happy parents seeing their dream of having a family fulfilled. The whole team and I always do everything possible to help people in their fertility journey, and seeing the embryo become a baby is one of the best things about our job. We are happy to report the clinical pregnancy rate per embryo transfer is now 54%, with the national average being 23% (women of all ages)*. Please visit our website to see all statistics. (*Raw numbers: embryo transfers 67, embryos transferred 82, clinical pregnancies 36.)
In 2022 we opened our very own in-house state of the art pathology lab, which allows us to improve the care we provide by drastically reducing our turnaround times for test results. Crucially, the new lab also provides a much improved quality of service. We are one of very few private clinics who have this facility in-house, and delighted to be able to improve our patient care in this regard.
We continue to enhance the patient pathway by sourcing complementary partnerships, including the Fertility Help Hub, Expectancy Scanning Studios, This Is My Healthcare, Aura Fertility (former Fertility Circle), whilst welcoming new partners to the fold:
- Harper – evidence based mental and wellbeing support for our patients;
- The Stork and I: support for single parents-by-choice;
- Gaia Fertility - redesigning IVF funding (financial support);
- Assured Fertility – 100% Refund and Multi-Cycle IVF Plans (financial support);
- Salve – the Clinic’s treatment support app, providing patients with reminders for appointments and medications, information about treatments and test results
- Fairtility – Artificial Intelligence (AI) for assisting with embryo selection
- Amilis – support for patients considering egg freezing
We are delighted to have strong suite of partners who help to improve the care we provide to our patients. We are indeed stronger together! We will continue our commitment to inform, support, help and educate our patients through powerful webinars, online articles and Instagram sessions.
November 2022 saw us welcome Dr Vivienne Hall, a very experienced consultant gynaecologist and fertility specialist with over 30 years experience in UK and Italy. Maria Rossi, a fully qualified and licensed Integrated Traditional Chinese Medicine and 5-Element Acupuncturist, joined our team this year. We are fortunate to have them as part of our wonderful team.
Our HSFC family keeps increasing and we recently caught up with families whose “babies” are growing up - some of them are already in school. Our IVF ambassadors Nicola Manashe and Alex Reid started their second fertility journey with us in 2022, to give the adorable daughter Anastasia a sibling.
Finally, a very special message for my team, my HSFC family. Each and every one of them deserves a special mention, because they all work hard putting their heart and soul into making the clinic run – a big, big thank you to Megan (Head of Administration), Malika (Head of Reception), Albana and Zack (Records Clerks), Ali, Hajara, Mohamed and Taheer (Patient Coordinators), Rachel (Lead Nurse), Nurjannah and Victoria (nurses), Poonam (Pharmacist), Bernia and Marion (Healthcare assistants), Dharshi (Clinical Coordinator), Sam (Embryology Lab Manager), Raj, Sylwia and Wafa (Embryologists), Krupaa (Lab Practitioner), Ajay (Head of Finance), Prachi (Credit Control), Mustafa (Quality and Operations Manager), Lindsay (Marketing Director), Delia (Head of Marketing), Sue (Social Media Assistant), and Suvir (General Manager). Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I appreciate that 2022 has been a difficult year for many. We look forward to 2023 and hope the big picture improves. As a company, we endeavour to help where we can, and you will start to see some of these next year.
Have a peaceful and restful Christmas and your dreams come true in 2023. I hope we, at Harley Street Fertility Clinic, will do our part to help you achieve those dreams.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
