Helping you have treatment within the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic

We are passionate about helping you have children and do our best to achieve this. Whilst we are proud of what we do and delighted that we’ve put in place measures to deliver treatment safely during the current pandemic, things are not completely normal. We therefore ask for your understanding as sometimes you may encounter hiccups. Reasons for this include the following:

1. We have to limit the number of staff in our offices. If you phone us, the person dealing with your enquiry may not have your medical records to hand and therefore will need to locate these or get advice from more experienced staff and therefore get back to you later.

1. If you have a complex medical or ethical issue, this may need to be addressed by our multi-professional team of doctors, nurses and embryologists. This happens by video conference weekly, therefore it may take longer to get back to you.

1. We aim to provide a personalised service and recognise the benefit of being able to speak to, or hear from the same person. However, this may not always possible due to staff working patterns, leave or illness.

1. The work we do is personal, and like many of you, we’d prefer to conduct our activities face to face. The Covid-19 pandemic has required us to change the way we work. This includes addressing the challenges of video communication technology as well as communication with colleagues who may be working remotely.

1. Unfortunately the Covid pandemic also means that fertility clinics have some restrictions imposed on who they can treat. Therefore, if you have a medical condition such as diabetes that is not well controlled, we may need clearance from your specialist that it would be safe to treat you. If you have a condition or are on medication such as steroids that suppresses your immune system, we may have to delay treatment. We assess each case on an individual basis and try our best to go ahead with fertility treatment.

We appreciate the emotional difficulties many encounter dealing with fertility problems and the further challenges that Covid can cause. As such, we provide support through our specialist counsellors Wendy and Francine. Please contact us if you wish to have an appointment with them. This is free for patients having treatment at BCRM.

• For general enquiries, please call: 0117 301 8605 or 0117 414 6888 lines are open 8am-5pm.
• If you are in treatment please email nurses@bcrm.org.uk or ring 0117 414 6880 if urgent.
• Please note, we are a training centre, therefore you may come across staff who are learning in the clinic.

If you do encounter problems, it is helpful for us to know this and would encourage you to email our quality manager JoanneT@bcrm.org.uk. The information you provide is analysed by the senior management team. This is then fed back to all staff and actions are taken to improve the service.