Liverpool Women's Hospital set for £5m IVF project

Dec 20 2007

A £5m INVESTMENT will transform Liverpool Women’s hospital into one of Europe’s biggest IVF centres.

The hospital’s Hewitt Centre already has the biggest IVF unit in the country.

The expansion will enable experts to treat even more women desperate to have children.

The money will be spent on building a new two-storey extension reinforcing the hospital’s position at the forefront of fertility care.

The move follows a growing demand for the centre’s services.

Medics say more childless couples are seeking their help than ever before.

This is because of an increase in infertility and more people being referred to the service from across the north west.

Officials also predict numbers will continue to grow in the future.

The extension is being funded by NHS cash and patients paying for their own treatment. The unit will continue to see both private and NHS patients.

The centre not only offers IVF treatment but other fertility treatments as well. It currently sees 1,500 couples a year but this is set to double.

Charles Kingsland, clinical director of the unit and chairman of North West Fertility Ltd (the private- branch of the facility), said: “This will ensure that we are at the forefront of future developments in assisted conception.

“It will give Liverpool and the north west region one of the biggest single site facilities of its kind in Europe.”

At present, doctors carry out 800 NHS IVF cycles a year and 500 private cycles. When the extension is finished the new unit will be capable of carrying out up to 1,700 IVF cycles every year – a 31% increase.

Mr Kingsland, one of the country’s leading fertility experts, added: “We’re very excited about this new development which is going to be fantastic news for the hospital, for Liverpool, and, most of all, for the people we help, not only on Merseyside but from Cheshire, North Wales and throughout the country.

“It is a testament to all concerned with the trust that in the 18 years since the first IVF patient was treated in Liverpool we have developed into Britain’s leading provider of NHS IVF services.

“It means we’ll be able to help a lot more people in Britain’s finest surroundings with all the benefits that exist within the NHS and the private sector.

“It is a key innovation that is already being replicated in trusts throughout the country.”

The new unit is due to be completed in April 2009 and plans have been submitted to the council.

It will be designed in consultation with patients to the very latest specifications, providing cutting edge technology in contemporary facilities.

As well as a new embryology laboratory, the new unit will include a dedicated recovery service for patients and a private, quiet area for couples.

The unit will also accommodate sperm bank and egg freezing services launched by the Trust earlier this year.

Mr Kingsland was instrumental in establishing the first fertility unit in Liverpool in 1989. At that time treatment resulted in around 30 babies a year. Now 300 babies are born every year thanks tot he clinic.

And sSince then unit was established more than 3,000 IVF babies have been born to couples who feared they would be childless.