A Human Factors Approach to Discovering, Defining, and Co-Developing the Management of Critical Incidents in IVF Clinics

Background: The regulation of In-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics in the United Kingdom (UK) falls under the purview of The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), an organization tasked with ensuring their adherence to both their code of conduct and the HFE Act of 2008 (HFEA, 2022; HFEA, 2021). To increase patient safety, each clinic is accountable for identifying errors, examining these incidents, and re-evaluating their procedures (HFEA, 2021). Incident reporting systems can be greatly improved by recognizing and resolving human factors. Objective: To discover, define, and co-develop the management of critical incidents in IVF clinics from a human factors approach. Methods: A preliminary study was conducted at Ninewells Assisted Conception Unit (ACU) to provide insights for the development of a survey comprised of open-ended and closed-ended questions. This online survey was sent out to healthcare personnel who are working in UK-registered IVF clinics and received responses from 48 healthcare personnel working in HFEA-registered IVF clinics. The acquired data was subjected to mixed deductive and inductive analysis and descriptive statistics. An interview was conducted one-on-one with ACU staff (6 participants). Document analysis was carried out respectively. Results: IVF clinics are one of the most complex, multi-layered socio-technical systems in the health care sector, requiring a strategy that considers the system as a whole and understands the delicate balance of its functioning configuration. Incident management forms the foundation upon which patient safety can be ensured and progress in this field can be fostered. A key component of changing IVF clinics is incorporating Human Factors (HF) science for the benefit of society. Conclusion: HFEA needs to introduce training on Human Factor (HF), a purpose-built reporting system, and encourage the whole team in participation of incident management competencies.