Ethics and society: Review of the organized support network for infertility patients in licensed units in the UK

In acknowledging that ‘counselling is generally recognizedas beneficial’, the Human Fertilization and EmbryologyAuthority (HFEA) Code of Practice requires that all infertilityunits provide counselling facilities to be available for patients.In this study, we intended to evaluate the support and counsellingservices made available by the licensed units in the UK. A questionnaireconsisting of 30 questions was designed and sent to every licensedtreatment unit in the UK. The data were coded on a nominal scaleand, using a data entry program, loaded onto a computer. Usingthe Statistical Package for the Social Sciences program, a non-parametricfrequency analysis was performed. Associations were examinedwith cross-tabulations and x² analysis. A total of 62 units(61.4%) responded to the questionnaire, from both the privateand National Health Service sectors. Of these, 95% have theirown counsellor, most of whom (84%) practised on the premises.One-third of these counsellors had a dual role, mainly as nurses,social workers or in administration; 98.6% were trained in counselling,with only 28% having either the Certificate or Diploma in Counselling.One-third (32.2%) of centres charged for counselling, with only13 units indicating their charges. The majority of centres (78.8%)do not actively follow-up patients after counselling and one-quarter(25.5%) did not have a specific counselling room. Over two-thirds(68.4%) of centres described their support network as adequate.The results of this survey suggest that, although the requirementsof the HFEA Code of Practice are being adhered to reasonablywell, overall patient uptake of counselling is low. The potentialbenefits of counselling are well documented, and therefore workersin this field need to place additional emphasis on the possibleadvantages of counselling in an effort to improve uptake.