Developing clinical standards and accrediting clinics in infertility care

In a climate of a cash-strapped medical system in the UK, there is acknowledgement that the need to provide safe, clinically effective, cost-efficient and patient-friendly medical care has never been more apparent. Recent legal cases in infertility and other specialties have made it clear that the trust of the public in healthcare providers is low. The response of the profession to this crisis of confidence needs to be swift and effective. The concept of standards setting is not new outside medical care. Regulatory structures now exist within medicine, and infertility investigation and treatment is now high on the agenda for careful scrutiny. The professions involved in reproductive medicine services urgently need to engage with government regulatory authorities as the agenda for the development of clinical standards and the potential for accreditation of clinics gathers momentum. This article examines the current status of clinical standards setting in the UK and recommends that in future the professional societies together with the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists play a major role, in both the public and private sector, in advising existing assessors of quality.