IVF: same Dr each appointment?

[KitGee]

Hello!
Really keen to understand this as I’m getting quite frustrated and don’t know if it’s just me being fussy.

Question- Do you see the same Dr during your IVF programme/ is there a single Dr who coordinates your treatment and with whom you can check in with at key milestones?

My wife and I have been at Create St Paul’s since c. Jan ‘21. Previously at CRGH but pulled out just before treatment due their Covid policies re attending key appointments together... [different story!]

At Create my wife has done a round a of mild cycle = 16 eggs of which 1x day 3 and 5 x day 5 made it and are now on ice 😊.
I’m going in today for my egg collection - 2 follicles (fingers crossed) and I’m on a natural modified cycle.

So the rub is - neither of us has ever seen the same Dr for two appointments in a row. I don’t want to list out every that I feel is wrong about this set up but the whole process feels unorganised and disjointed. I have received conflicting information from different appointments/ Dr’s- such as whether to take the Cetrotide in the morning or with the Bemfola at night.
What’s really p’ed me off is on Saturday I received a slightly panicked call from a Dr I’d never spoke to before asking me to start taking Ibuprofen to prevent ovulation and to trigger at 2.30am for collection today - where as the Dr (again not sure of her name as I was never told as part of the booking process - you’re just get giving a time) who I saw on Saturday morning gave me a prescription for more Cetrotide & Bemfola as I’d need to stay on the meds for longer.

So I know thing can change quickly in IVF land but without an overarching programme lead by this single point of contact Doctor and supported by a transparent treatment plan my confidence in Creates system is pretty low right now.

We are going to raise this when we go in today, but any feedback super welcomed: is this standard practice or not?
Thank you 😊

Hi OP - best of luck for today.

We are at Lister. When we see a doctor it is always the same one, other than where there is a specific issue where they have a better expert or an emergency that means I just need somebody ASAP (like after my MMC). However a lot of our appointments are with nurses, who consult with doctors in the background. They try really hard to make sure the nurse is consistent each cycle, but it isn’t always the case depending on what times we can make scans etc. And when they call to give an update after bloods (if they have to change medication for example) it could be anyone. But having different people has never meant I have been given conflicting advice.

Lister actually changed their practices on this about 18 months ago after feedback from people that always switching nurses at appointments was not a great experience - it is much better now.

The people who call from the embryologist team are always different, but that’s just for updates so doesn’t matter too much.

Hi, I always saw a different Consultant - maybe saw the same one twice over about 12 appointments. Though a decision was never made in the spot and a discussion took place daily between the team to discuss options - so I guess the my looked at the whole picture / history at that point together and made an informed decision. I agree it would be better but I guess it makes sense that it can’t always be the case. Tbf at each apt they seemed to have read up on my notes and didn’t act like they had no clue what was going on - i never remembered any names of who I saw as it was always different. Whilst it would be nice for continuity - I’m not sure it makes much difference as I’m sure given the number of patients, the same consultant each time would be likely to forget every detail about each one.
I wish you both luck with your treatment

I did 5 rounds with Create Birmingham - quite often I'd only see my doctor once and the rest of the scans were done by a specialist nurse (even one egg collection was done by her). I guess by the 3/4/5 th cycle I was more confidant because seeing different nurses/not even seeing the doctors didn't phase me. It was definitely a bit off putting for the first 2 cycles though. I felt like wait a minute I'm paying a lot of money here and I expect to see a doctor at every appointment 🤷‍♀️ by the end I just wanted it over with so just took whatever appointments were available which fitted with my work even if it was with different nurses.

If I got conflicting information I always made sure to query it with them and request confirmation via email though - to be honest I questioned everything 🤣

I think it's the same across all the Create branches

I've done 3 cycles with Create St Pauls and see a different doctor each time, but during each round, i might see the same doctor twice for scans, it's luck of the draw really.

I didn't really mind, as sometimes i like to be able to ask the same questions to different doctors to gauge their opinions. As i've done 3 rounds now, i've seen most doctors several times so at least do feel comfortable with them. One thing to note is that when you book your scans, you can ask which doctors are on that day, so if you have a preference, you can at least choose between 2 or 3.

@IslandStars @andivfmakes3 @AutumnHoping @Shamoo
Thank you! V kind to take the time to come back on this!
Maybe I do just need to let it go and hope of the best 😂

On the plus side - 2 eggs out today 😀 which on the natural cycle is all good. No anaesthetic (the good thing about so few!) and I was in and out in 35mins with zero pain.
Fingers crossed for the next part of the journey 😀😀