Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, how many patients at North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust received fertility treatments in each of the last five years.

The information is not available in the format requested. The following table shows a count of finished admission episodes¹ with a main operative procedure² relating to fertility treatments³ at the North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust for 2010-11 to 2014-15.

These figures do not include treatments where the patient was not admitted to the hospital.

Source: Hospital Episode Statistics, Health and Social Care Information Centre.

Notes:

1. A finished admission episode (FAE) is the first period of admitted patient care under one consultant within one healthcare provider. FAEs are counted against the year or month in which the admission episode finishes. Admissions do not represent the number of patients, as a person may have more than one admission within the period.

2. The first recorded procedure or intervention in each episode, usually the most resource intensive procedure or intervention performed during the episode. It is appropriate to use main procedure when looking at admission details, (eg time waited), but a more complete count of episodes with a particular procedure is obtained by looking at the main and the secondary procedures.

3. The following OPCS codes were used:

The following OPCS-4. 7 codes and categories classify fertility treatments:

Q13 Introduction of gametes into uterine cavity;

Q38.3 Endoscopic intrafallopian transfer of gametes;

The following OPCS-4 category was introduced in the OPCS-4.6 version of the Classification; and

Q21 Other introduction of gametes into uterine cavity.

4. Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. Changes to the figures over time need to be interpreted in the context of improvements in data quality and coverage (particularly in earlier years), improvements in coverage of independent sector activity (particularly from 2006-07) and changes in National Health Service practice. For example, apparent reductions in activity may be due to a number of procedures which may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and so no longer include in admitted patient HES data. Conversely, apparent increases in activity may be due to improved recording of diagnosis or procedure information.

5. (HES) include activity ending in the year in question and run from April to March, e.g. 2012-13 includes activity ending between 1 April 2012 and 31 March 2013.