IVF London-based clinic - first hand experience

[annaeyarly]

Dear Ladies

I am new to this forum - decided to create an account so I could share my story about IVF process so far and, hopefully, help someone in choosing a clinic.
The clinic I was with and currently is leaving is called CRGH (www.crgh.co.uk/). Whilst I cannot say anything bad about the quality of doctors and nurses there, I would really like to advise against this clinic to anyone who is going privately - the level of service is just appalling.
To elaborate: average time spent there for each appointment is 2.5 hours (mind that the time of having the actual scan/blood test or meeting a nurse is 10-30 min tops); constant mistakes made in ordering medicine; lack of personal attitude, eg when I called them to tell that my FET didn't work, they offered to see me in 25 days, because my doctor was busy with other patients (I repeat - we were paying privately).

But to top it up, whilst researching for a new clinic in London, I had a chance to compare the prices (CRRH do not publish them openly on their website, unlike other clinics) and see what I found:
cost of FET in CRGH (from my own bill) - 2,250£
cost of FET in Lister Chelsea (available on website) -1,150£
cost of FET in City Fertility (confirmed with them personally) - 950£
cost of FET in Createhealth (confirmed with them personally) - 950£

Cost of other procedures are similarly inflated by CRGH. When I enquired them about it - their answer was "this is just what we charge". Mind that HFEA authority doesn't control financial side of IVF treatments - they confirmed it to me via email - so clinics could inflate them as they want.

So I decided that the route of spreading the word in social media would be the most efficient way to deliver the message: "If you are going private and work hard during the process to support the cost of IVF, AVOID CRGH at all cost!"

Anna

I'm sorry you had a bad experience at CRGH. I used them earlier this year for my first round of ivf and I thought they were good.

The longest I was kept waiting was an hour - it only happened once and they were very apologetic about it.

CRGH's prices are higher because their results are better. The hfea stats speak for themselves.

CRGH

Lister

I had an exceptional experience as a private patient with Mr Khalaf at Guys ACU. Appointments at convenient times (usually before/after work), his personal mobile number and email address so he was contactable at all times, state of the art facilities and wonderful DC after 2x ICSI and 1xFET.

It's worth bearing in mind that the HEFA results don't give the full picture. Some private clinics manipulate their success rates by only taking on cases which are likely to be successful whereas the NHS clinics treat everyone.

Kings ACU were fantastic with us. Our treatment was NHS but they do self-funded too.

I had treatment at CRGH last year. I've previously commented on another thread about the service but I'm not sure how to link to it on my phone. I did get pregnant after one IUI but miscarried. I agree that the prices are not transparent. I didn't experience long waiting times and on the whole found the doctors and nurses to be fine. I did have some issues with having unecessary swabs which I was refunded for and my second IUI was not well handled. They weren't great administratively.

Turns out I had an underlying medical issue (endo). They didn't pick up on it (but nor did the NHS).

Another positive review for Kings ACU. I had a successful fresh NHS cycle there in March 2012. I also self-funded a (failed) FET cycle there earlier this year. The FET cost £800 plus £135 initial consultation and then I bought my drugs from Sainsbury's.

I would happily use them again, although I did have to wait about a month for my follow up appointment after the failed FET. Frustrating at the time but it was good to get off the IVF crazy train for a bit and somehow I ended up miraculously pregnant naturally so a lucky break for us overall!

I'm sorry your FET was unsuccessful Anna.

I am currently undergoing a FET cycle at CRGH myself and it is certainly pricey. As a previous poster highlighted fertility clinics charge what the market will bear. Somewhere such as CRGH has excellent results as confirmed by the HFEA website. They can charge accordingly.

City Fertility - which you quote a price for - has not yet had time to build up a track record of results and so patients choosing to go there have no way to compare it with other clinics. It's cheaper, but without knowing how good or bad its results are you are taking a shot in the dark. Create seems to have average results.

Private healthcare is about choice and cost.

Personally I would rather pay more and get the best possible clinical treatment. Flawless admin is a very minor consideration for me. I'm also not fussed about my consultant holding my hand through the whole process. But that is just me, others need different things and should prioritise those.

It is true that some clinics do not treat the toughest cases and that helps keep their success rates high. CRGH is not in that category as far as I am aware - in fact they seem to treat more complex cases if anything eg. where genetic testing is needed or immune disorders are suspected. They do also accept eligible NHS patients.

It is not correct to say that the NHS treats everyone. NHS clinics also have cut off points for FSH and/or AMH levels - although the parameters vary depending on the clinic.

It is difficult to choose a fertility clinic. Private treatment is expensive and there is conflicting information about success rates and which treatments are effective. The best we can do is inform ourselves and decide on our own priorities before making a choice and hoping for the very best outcome. What suits one person will not at all be the right choice for someone else.

I wish you well in your search for the right fertility clinic for you Anna and I hope you find the one which gets you your baby.

Anna,
I'm so sorry about your experience. It sounds horrible.
Having been with Create for (too) many rounds, that isn't their FET cost. That is the cost of shooting th embryo up on the day but not th blood tests and drugs beforehand. Let alone the scratches or intralipids if that's what you need as well.

Sadly clinics are a business and that doesn't always sit with the expectations of patients but having seen 3 clinics prior to ours, I can't complain about the way in which they price their services.
Even more sadly, after 3+ years on the ivf boards here, I haven't heard of anywhere that isn't a shambles. The admin side for all clinics seems to be terrible. Create is as bad as they get...

Anna, sorry about your bad experience but thanks for this thread, it's very helpful. We've just contacted Guy's for a first appointment, will be a first step into IVF/ICSI for us; glad to see them recommended by Imnotchanging upthread. CRGH were also on the shortlist but will be bumping them down now I think.

Myself and my husband had an appointment with CRGH on the 24th January 2017 with intention to discuss surrogacy.

Upon entering the room our previous 5 failed IVF attempts were discussed to gain background information on ourselves.
Our sole intention of this meeting was to discuss surrogacy which myself and husband stated numerous points throughout the consultation and when booking the appointment, this was totally dismissed.

The consultant advised we had to have PGS/ chromosome, numerous other testing on top of another round of IVF before we could contemplate surrogacy. We advised we were not willing to go ahead with further testing and did not have the £12,000 required. In addition to the funds I also advised I was not willing to put myself through the emotional rollercoaster again. This was dismissed and the hard sell on the above products continued. After this I stated I was not willing to proceed as I have seen the panorama programme with no evidence or backing behind these "investigations" and also done lots of research myself but according to CRGH we are unable to proceed with surrogacy until all these further tests are done, the only way to go ahead without these tests is if I had a medical issue such as born without a womb!

Since leaving the clinic I have called numerous surrogacy agencies who have advised the above is incorrect and I can go through surrogacy at any point I feel ready.

The clinic made myself and husband feel very vulnerable in the consultation (which I burst into tears) and I came out feeling incredibly down and upset. We have been through 4 years of hell and finally had some good news of my sister offering to be a surrogate enabling us to move on and you dismissed it. We trusted in CRGH as “doctors” for guidance and FACTUAL advice not their in-house protocols. I feel hurt and disgusted.

I will be taking the a lot further to prevent this from happening to anyone else

We're currently trying to choose the right clinic for us. I'm 30 with PCO, ttc 4 years no success so referred straight to IVF by NHS.

Any recommendations or places to avoid?
Our options are:

Create Fertility
CRGH
The Bridge Centre
Guy's Hospital ACU

Any advice will be great, thanks xxx

Go for Mr Khalaf at Guys and St Thomas - brilliant man, we had a great experience there and they really take the time to make sure you fully understand your treatment and can make informed choices. I'm currently 12+5 after ICSI there

NB I'd avoid Kings, they're super disorganised and lost our notes 3 times! And then when it failed, gave us the hard sell on some sperm testing that they eventually admitted would have NO impact on subsequent treatment (we'd need ICSI regardless of what the test showed)! We were furious.

What a horrible experience you had at King's! That must have been so stressful while fling through treatment.

You're the 3rd person to recommend Guy's. We spoke to Dr Khalaf during the open evening, lovely man. I'm just tempted by the high success rates of CRGH. Butility patisn't care is very important to us. Any cons about Guy's? How long have you been treated there?

Sorry for all the questions, just want to make an informed choice 😊 xxx

*patient care

I agree with hedgehog, I saw mr Khalaf on Tuesday and he is lovely and very caring.
I'm under Guys, unfortunately ive had two failed cycles and now moving on to my FET in the next couple of weeks but have heard they are one of the best. If this cycle doesn't work we will have to self fund and I'll probably stick with guys. Good luck with your cycles xx

Hi Goodthingscome2those,

Thank you so much for your post, Guy's is definitely number 1 for us at the moment, especially as they seem to treat their NHS patients just as well as their private patients. We just have one more open day at CRGH next week and then we can make our choice.

I have everything crossed for you with your FET! All the best xxx

I've been treated at Guys for one round of ICSI and one FET (which worked!). A friend of mine also went to Mr Khalaf twice and is currently pg with her second! My GP also conceived her DS through IVF with him.

CRGH are choosy about whom they accept so perhaps that helps their success rates?

Yes I've been reading about how the success rates of some clinics aren't representative as some clinics accept almost anyone and others don't. Like Create Fertility have a lot of people who come to the after they've tried everything else so they're rates may look lower but they're actually quite good.

The latest success rates I've seen from Guy's for my age group for fresh cycle IVF is 41% pregnancy. CRGH was 51%. I do wish they had a score for patient care at these clinics, it'd help so much!