Health Economics and Patient Satisfaction of One-stop Fertility Clinic

• Research type

  Research Study

• Full title

  An Observational Study of Health Economics and Patient Satisfaction with duration of Fertility Investigations and a Pilot One-stop Fertility Clinic.

• IRAS ID

  174481

• Contact name

  Moses T Batwala

• Contact email

  moses.batwala@st-hildas.ox.ac.uk

• Sponsor organisation

  Oxford University,

• Duration of Study in the UK

  0 years, 8 months, 17 days

• Research summary

  The purpose of this study is to observe if the duration in days of female participants undergoing "traditional"National Health Service (NHS) investigative fertility pathways has an effect on;
  1: The participantts satisfaction with their care, measured as Quality of Life (QoL) score.
  2: The amount of money NHS spends on investigating the participants.
  3: If there is any effect on the participants partner's QoL.

  The Study will also recruit a sample of patients from a "pilot" One-stop Fertility Clinic which is running at the Oxford fertility Unit. Participants from the Traditional pathway will be compared to the One-stop pathway participants to assess if there are differences between;
  1: QoL
  2: Duration in days of investigation.
  3: Cost of Investigation.

  This is a Prospective Observational Research study and a pilot study. Participants will be NHS funded Patients referred to The Oxford Fertility Clinic for their first IVF treatment through the "traditional" investigative pathway or those who have gone through a Pilot "One-stop" pathway that has been also been set up at the Oxford Fertility. Participants who accept to be enrolled will be asked to complete a FertiQol questionnaire to assess their Quality of Life at that point. Their referral notes will be reviewed and the number of NHS encounters and investigations will be recorded to calculate the cost to the NHS. It is hoped to recruit 350 participants over a 10 month period.

  Lay Summary of Results

  1: The savings from One-Stop clinics should be ring-fenced and used to maintain or increase the NHS funded IVF cycles.
  2: This may give an alternative to UK citizens seeking IVF treatment abroad, which is associated with multiple pregnancies and higher pregnancy related costs and morbidity.
  3: The study also recommends the setup of a National data base to collect data on all multiple births (twins and higher) to collect information on type of conception and location of fertility treatment if applicable.
  4: The study also recommends offering of psychological support to patients early in the investigative process to address early decrease in their QoL.

  Has the registry been updated to include summary results?: No
  If yes - please enter the URL to summary results:
  If no – why not?: TBA
  Did you follow your dissemination plan submitted in the IRAS application form (Q A51)?: Pending
  If yes, describe or provide URLs to disseminated materials:
  If pending, date when dissemination is expected: 23/10/2025
  If no, explain why you didn't follow it:
  Have participants been informed of the results of the study?: Pending
  If yes, describe and/or provide URLs to materials shared and how they were shared:
  If pending, date when feedback is expected: 23/10/2025
  If no, explain why they haven't:
  Have you enabled sharing of study data with others?: No
  If yes, describe or provide URLs to how it has been shared:
  If no, explain why sharing hasn't been enabled: TBA
  Have you enabled sharing of tissue samples and associated data with others?: No
  If yes, describe or provide a URL:
  If no, explain why: n/a

• REC name

  London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee

• REC reference

  16/LO/0626

• Date of REC Opinion

  5 Apr 2016

• REC opinion

  Favourable Opinion