The Centre for Reproductive Health, Create Health or Guys??

[Pogz]

Hello

I am new to Mumsnet and how everything works, I also have no clue on all the abbreviations etc but just after a bit of advice really.

We have 16 embryos that have been on Ice for 5 years now, originally had the treatment at St Barts in London on NHS however they no longer hold the contract for the East of England (I live in Essex) patients so we have to have them moved and have the remainder of treatment at one of these 3 clinics;
The Centre for Reproductive Health, Guys & Thomas, Create Health.

We have no clue on which to chose. I don't really know where to start.. Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Hi OP,

I can only comment on Guys as I had some NHS treatment there. They were totally 'one size fits all' with their treatment. Wouldn't give me an HSG once they'd put me forward for ivf, despite me pretty much begging them. They also told me I have premature ovarian failure based off one single incorrectly timed blood test. The private clinic I went to for treatment afterwards have told me this isn't the case.

I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole.

I totally agree with Pogz and would seriously advise against Guys. They are totally one size fits all and completely buggered up my first ivf cycle by placing me on a long protocol, even though I repeatedly told them of my PCOS and likelihood to hyper stimulate. Needless to say I did hyper stimulate and ovulated immediately upon trigger. When I came round from egg collection I was told there were no eggs despite having had 14 mature follicles. It was devastating. To cap it all, the lead consultant had the cheek to blame me and say that I might have a terrible condition called empty follicle syndrome (which I now know was bullshit and a horrible excuse for totally screwing up my only free NHS cycle). I took the consultant at his word and it nearly ended my marriage as I told my DH to leave me for someone who could bear him the children he so wanted. Luckily DH didnt run for the hills and we went to The Lister who listened, put me on a short IVF protocol and I fell pregnant first time with my DD.

I now realise I could probably sue Guys for medical negligence but morally it would feel wrong to sue the NHS. I wouldn't advise giving them your precious embies if you can avoid it.

I'm currently with Create, trying for a sibling. Their results aren't great compared to others in London like CRGH or The Lister but they are pretty much the only ones doing natural ivf and I wanted to try without drugs. I'm doing the 3 cycle package so the jury's out. The staff are very nice and there are a few people on these forums who have had success with them.

I'm not sure of the other clinic, are you sure you don't mean CRGH (Centre for reproductive and genetic health)? If it is, their results are excellent, the best in the UK i think!

Hope I've been helpful, sorry for the looong story and good luck

Sorry agree with isthismummy

I had treatment at CRGH both as an NHS and private patient. I had a frozen embryo transfer privately with then last year, which resulted in my beautiful son. I was always advised to just look at success rates as that's all that really matters and CRGH certainly have excellent success rates, but they might be a bit skewed as I have been told that they only take on patients they think will have a good outcome (I'm not entirely convinced by this as I was not an ideal candidate being old with a low AMH and failed cycles behind me!). We started off with one consultant who I did not like and then switched to Mr Ozturk who is absolute lovely. Good luck

Of those, I've only had experience with Create but found them great on the clinical side.

The admin side is pretty awful but I've found this with every clinic I've been to

The massive advantage of Create over others is that you see a doctor every time. They scan you and then discuss your treatment with you.
Other clinics have a sonographer to scan you who then hands the results to a nurse who then gets a doctor to phone you later that day, which just felt too detached and winging-it for me

Good luck

Weedance your story about your treatment at Guys is utterly appalling. They really are the most dreadful clinic. Their cavalier attitude to people hopes and lives is truly shocking.

I'd be on HRT for premature menopause now if I'd listened to them. My private clinic have told me I'm not actually in premature menopause.

It makes me so angry that they have free rein to wreck such havoc in people's lives.

isthismummy totally. HRT would have been disastrous for you! Completely and utterly negligent of them to get such a thing wrong. I dread to think the consequences of putting you on powerful hormones that your body was not ready for and didn't need. Thank god we both went elsewhere, sometimes you just have to get a second opinion.

I am still raging about my experience and wonder if part of Guy's attitude is to do with the fact that most of the treatment they provide is subsidised by the NHS, so there's an endless supply of patients and money, with no real need to improve or try particularly hard. Sometimes you get what you pay for and private clinics have to be more competitive, they obviously have a vested interest in getting a result. I feel like a veteran of all this now (4 x ivf rounds at 3 different clinics) and if I went to Guy's now, with the knowledge and experience I now have, I'd have given them holy hell for the heartache they put me and DH through.

This is a lottery anyway, with it being made worse by arrogant, complacent consultants not doing their jobs properly!

Ahh. Rant over. Sorry to derail your thread OP, I wish you all the best. You too isthismummy xx

I'm with Guys on the NHS and happy with them so far. Their success rates are at or above HFEA averages for the UK so we felt comfortable continuing with them. The lead consultant at the mandatory information session seemed a bit cavalier but the nurses and doctors we have met so far have been kind and attentive. Don't have anything else to compare to (and we haven't finished our cycle so don't now about our own outcome) but can't fault them so far.

Yeah that's what I mean (CRGH) I just couldn't remember the genetic bit :)
Thank you so much. I'm guessing GH means your hubby/partner? and DD you baby?
I think we're going to go with CRGH as done a bit more research and they seem to offer the best for my illness etc.
xx

Hello, I wanted to ask you how did you switch doctor during the treatment. I started with one at CRGH but don’t feel comfortable.

@Pldog I am with CRGH and we complained as our consultant had a 10 day wait time to speak to her (on any topic or test result) so they moved me for free to the consultant I wanted (I had to give examples of what happened on the phone). I think the other route for then for changing is paying £150 fee

I just asked to change doctors. They were fine with it. You are spending lots of money with them so as a consumer you are in control.

May I ask which doctors you guys chose eventually? I got so confused with reading all their profiles. My gut feeling is just that the doctor I had initial consultation with is not very caring. In a process like this, I would hope to have a doctor that really cares their patients. Thanks

That sounds like a real alarm bell, it was the exact same with the consultant we started working with, I’m with Dr Ali Al-Charmi now and very happy with him

May I ask any recommendation on the doctor? Who is your current one?

I see. Will it be awkward to say that “we want to change to another person”?

I saw dr Ozturk who is great and was treated previously on the NHS by mr Ali Al charmi who is warm and caring. I bumped into him a good while after he treated me and he remembered me and my case. I would just ask. You’ll be spending a fortune there - say it’s the wrong fit for you personally and you want to change . You can just ask at reception to make an appointment with the new doctor

Also I wanted to ask you, after initial consultation, we went away to do some tests and then we have one question to confirm with the doctor. We emailed but the PA team suggested us to book a follow up session. Is this normal or the same in your case? I was a bit unexpected to be honest as it’s literally just 1 question.

Hi, I am with CRGH Dr Ali Al-Chami, chose them based on success rates and after the worst experience of my entire adult life with Barts...so glad to hear you had a good experience with Barts as I bailed on 3 free NHS cycles to pay to go private with CRGH! Hope you have a great experience at CRGH too.

@Pldog if you have your consultants contact info then you can just email them directly via their PA. Sometimes if they want to go through all your test results they will advise a consultation to discuss next steps and for you to ask a question. My experience is sometimes the PA team don't fully understand the process involved so if you can't get your consultant maybe trying nursing to ask your question or sens it through the portal. I was due to have a polypectomy that had to be done by a certain date and called PA to book and went round the houses for 48 hours I escalated to nursing via the portal who booked it immediately for me. X

If choose between dr Ozturk and Chami, who would you recommend? Thank you.

Hi there, I'm having to decide which consultant to go with at the CRGH. I see you were asking between Dr Ozturk and Dr Al Chami. Can I ask who you ended up going with?