Question
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 13 October 2010 (WA 73), what limitations there are that prevent hospitals from reporting cases of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) to the patient’s IVF clinic (a) currently, and (b) during the period of data collection for the annual reports on assisted reproduction in Europe published by the European IVF Monitoring Programme for the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Human Reproduction 2004, volume 19, pp 490-503 and 2008, volume 23, pp 756-71 using the European registers of 2000 and 2004; and whether there were any legal requirements for IVF patients to report severe OHSS to the IVF clinic in those respective time points.
Answer
There are no legal requirements preventing hospitals from informing in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics if any patient treated by that clinic has also been treated at the hospital for symptoms of severe ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS), unless the patient has refused her consent to the information being given to the IVF clinic. There are no legal requirements for patients themselves to inform the clinic that carried out their IVF treatment whether they have been treated by another healthcare provider for symptoms of OHSS. The National Patient Safety Agency operates a national reporting and learning service, which encourages and facilitates reporting of patient safety incidents.