Information for GPs
This section of our site aims to give local GPs information about our infertility services that are available to benefit your patients.
At the Hewitt Fertility Centre, we are proud of our long history and consistently successful outcomes for patients being treated for infertility, including the lowest multiple pregnancy rates in the UK. We undertake some of the most complex work too, as the designated supra-regional centre for the treatment of viral discordant couples with HIV and Hepatitis B and C, and the designated regional centre for fertility preservation for patients undergoing cancer treatment.
With purpose-built clinic facilities, investment in the very latest laboratory technology and our team of dedicated clinical experts, we are perfectly positioned to give couples their very best chance of a successful pregnancy, with the reassurance and back-up of a wider hospital team should it ever be required.
We are one of the largest reproductive medicine facilities in the UK, with an enviable track record, typically performing in excess of 3,500 treatment cycles a year. With full centres in Liverpool and Knutsford, and local clinic partnerships in Wrightington Hospital and Leighton Hospital, we are positioned in convenient locations to serve the whole of the North West. However, we know that because of our clinical expertise and success rates, patients are delighted to travel to our centres from across the country. We understand that convenience is important for some people and that is why we introduced a full centre in Knutsford, just off the M6.
The Hewitt Fertility Centre operates differently from most IVF providers in the UK, in that it is wholly NHS owned, and as such benefits from robust oversight, audit and governance and focuses on the needs of the individual patient, rather than being profit driven. It provides the very latest evidence-based treatment as standard. All patients benefit from time-lapse technology (EmbryoScope). The Hewitt Fertility Centre has the largest number of EmbryoScope machines in Europe, allowing the team to offer time lapse to all patients.
As you will be aware, patients are able to exercise choice in the provider that they are referred to for specialist infertility assessment and assisted conception services. We provide patients the opportunity to have a comprehensive assessment with regard to their fertility at our ‘Fertility Screening Clinic’ This right to a full assessment as an NHS patient exists regardless of the range of IVF services made available on the NHS and eligibility criteria applied by individual NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups.
We would expect couples seeking fertility treatment to ask their GP to refer them to our services if they so wish, and will be delighted to see them either in Liverpool or Knutsford. However, we would also welcome your support in proactively making all patients aware of our services either verbally or via our website www.thehewittfertilitycentre.org.uk.
Semen analysis
The Hewitt Fertility Centre has four Andrology Laboratories across the North West from which we provide a diagnostic semen analysis service and post-vasectomy semen analysis service for healthcare professionals across the region.
The Andrology Laboratories are situated at both The Hewitt Fertility Centres in Liverpool Women's Hospital and Knutsford Business Park, at Ormskirk District General Hospital and Leighton District General Hospital.
All laboratories are UKAS accredited to ISO 15189:2012 for these tests and reports are returned to the referring clinician within two weeks of the test. Please note that the laboratory staff are unable to discuss results over the phone or return them directly to the patient.
All relevant documentation and useful information on our policies and procedures, and how to refer patients to our services are listed in the documents below. Please note, all requests for a semen analysis at Liverpool, Knutsford or Ormskirk must now be submitted through the NHS e-Referral service.
Sperm cryopreservation
The Andrology Laboratories at The Hewitt Fertility Centres in The Liverpool Women’s Hospital and Knutsford Business Park can also provide an emergency sperm cryopreservation service to patients that are due to undergo potentially sterilising treatment such as chemotherapy. Please contact us for more information on this service.