Member - Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2 vacancies)
Posted by: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Employed By: Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority
Job Title: Member - Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (2 vacancies)
Salary: £7,883 per annum
Contract: Part-time
Location: Hybrid
Application Deadline: Midday Tuesday 26 May
About the appointment
Introduction
Julia Chain, Chair of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA)
The HFEA has been the UK's regulator of fertility treatment and embryo research for over 30 years, created to make policy and regulate standards as the fertility sector developed following the birth of the world’s first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. We are one of the few UK wide regulators, overseeing treatment in both the NHS and private sector.
It is a huge privilege to be a Board member of this internationally renowned and respected organisation and to be able to contribute to policy and licensing decisions in such an innovative and ethically contested area of medicine.
We are a small body with around 80 staff, but we monitor global scientific developments which could become patient treatment in the years to come, make policy and advise Ministers, Parliament, and Government, alongside our core functions of setting standards, licensing research projects and treatment clinics and maintaining a register of all UK fertility treatments, the largest database of its kind in the world.
We are mid-way through our strategy for 2025-2028 and you will have an opportunity to help oversee its delivery over the coming year and contribute to the development of our strategic thinking from 2028.
Your role as a Board member would be to actively participate on the Authority and in committee work as we support pioneering science and fertility medicine but, above all, do our utmost to uphold and improve standards in fertility treatment so that as many people as possible can achieve their much longed-for family. The HFEA is at the heart of creating life, and I am constantly reminded what a privileged role our Board members have and how interesting and rewarding our work is.
Our lay and professional Members bring a huge variety of experience and expertise to their role from genetics, fertility medicine, counselling, life sciences and research, communications and the media, faith, ethics, and the law. If you are successful in your application, you would have the chance to contribute your personal expertise towards our new vision. We want to see everyone receive the best possible care and the right information at the right time. As science and society advance, the HFEA needs to shape and respond to future changes in the legislative landscape and the changing fields of modern family creation, genetics, and artificial intelligence and the use of data.
I have chaired the HFEA since April 2021, and in this time, I have been impressed at the organisation’s reputation as a body that enables innovation to flourish within a robust ethical framework. The breadth of work the HFEA covers means the role of a Member is fascinating and your contribution could make a real difference to many people for years to come.
Catharine Seddon, Member of HFEA.
“For me, the HFEA board serves at the heart of creating life. As NEDS, our job, first and foremost, is to protect people at one of the most vulnerable times of their life: when they need help to achieve a much longed-for family. In all our work - whether raising standards in fertility care, licensing innovative treatments or making policy in ethically charged areas, I feel a huge sense of responsibility to the public and therefore an equal sense of reward. This Board really matters.”
Appointment description
Members are required to build and retain public and professional confidence in the regulation of fertility treatment and embryo research and to play a key part in the effective and successful governance of the HFEA.
Specifically, to:
support the Chair and the Executive in setting the strategic direction of the HFEA, and review this on a regular basis in light of developments in the external and internal environments
support the Chair and the Executive in developing the HFEA in-line with the organisation’s strategic aims while maintaining a positive, constructive and appropriate relationship with its stakeholders in both the public and private sector
provide an independent view, a substantive contribution, and constructive challenge at Authority meetings and sub committees
monitor the performance of the HFEA’s Executive, holding it to account for the delivery of the HFEA’s business plan, HM Treasury and Department of Health and Social Care requirements.
Organisation description
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is the UK-wide independent regulator for fertility treatment and embryo research. The HFEA was established by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 (the ‘Act’). The Act sets out prohibitions relating to the creation, use, and storage of human embryos and human admixed embryos, and the use and storage of human gametes.
In 2007, as a result of the implementation of three EU Directives setting quality and safety standards for human tissue and cells intended for human application, the HFEA’s remit was extended to cover licensing and regulation of donation, procurement, testing, processing, preservation and distribution of gametes and embryos. The UK’s exit from the EU means that this relationship is changing going forward, although the UK’s high standards will remain.
The HFEA has the power to license the following activities in the course of providing fertility treatment (for example, in vitro fertilisation (IVF)):
bringing about the creation of a human embryo outside the body;
procuring, keeping, testing, processing or distributing human embryos;
procuring, keeping, testing, processing or distributing gametes;
using human embryos for training others in embryological techniques;
ensuring human embryos are in a suitable condition to be used in treatment;
placing human embryos in a woman;
carrying out testing of sperm;
other activities specified in regulations.
The HFEA can also license activities as part of a project of research involving human embryos (and human admixed embryos), provided they are necessary or desirable for:
increasing knowledge about serious disease or other serious medical conditions;
developing treatments for serious disease or other serious medical conditions;
increasing knowledge about the causes of congenital disease or congenital medical conditions;
promoting advances in the treatment of infertility;
increasing knowledge about the causes of miscarriage;
developing more effective techniques of contraception;
developing methods for detecting the presence of gene, chromosome, or mitochondrion abnormalities in embryos before implantation;
increasing knowledge about the development of embryos so long as the use of an embryo is necessary.
The HFEA can also grant licences for the procurement and distribution of sperm while providing non-medical fertility services and for the storage of gametes and embryos.
Ethical Safeguards
The Act contains several ethical safeguards; some of which are described here. The principle of informed consent is key in that gametes, embryos and other human tissue, the use of which is governed by the Act, can only be used for treatment or research purposes with the informed and clearly expressed consent of the person(s) providing the tissue. Where such consent cannot be given, in a very limited number of circumstances, use of the tissue can only take place if strict conditions can be met.
The restrictions of the use of human embryos in treatment and research and of particular techniques in assisted reproduction underpin the licensing provisions in the Act.
Clinics must assess the welfare of any child that might be born as a result of treatment, or any existing child that may be affected, as part of the process of determining a patient’s suitability for treatment.
Licensing and Inspection
There are currently 135 HFEA-licensed establishments providing treatments, related services, or carrying out embryo research. Every licence designates an individual who has the responsibility under the Act for the proper operation of the establishment and its compliance with the Act, all licence conditions, and the HFEA’s Code of Practice. This individual is described as the Person Responsible.
The Act requires the HFEA to carry out an inspection of all licensed establishments at least once every two years. The HFEA inspection team evaluate and monitor:
premises, equipment, and facilities;
laboratory processes;
documentation, including standard patient information;
the ability of the establishment to provide the services it offers;
the suitability of the person responsible and staff providing the services.
As part of its licensing function, the HFEA also assesses applications from establishments to use novel or adjusted treatment techniques and to test embryos for the presence of inheritable genetic conditions. Pre-implantation genetic testing for monogenic disorders (PGT-M) is a technique used to screen embryos before implantation, as part of an IVF treatment cycle, to exclude those with a serious genetic condition. The procedure is intended to help couples at risk of passing on a serious inheritable genetic condition to their offspring. None of these activities can take place without the HFEA’s prior approval.
Linked to its regulatory functions, the Act enables the HFEA to issue directions and requires it to maintain a Code of Practice setting out standards of practice for the delivery of treatments, fertility services, and embryo research that all licensed clinics and research centres are required to observe.
Key non-licensing functions
There are a number of functions carried out by the HFEA that are not part of the licensing process but are integral to fulfilling the aims set out in legislation:
Maintaining Registers: The Act requires the HFEA to keep registers, notably one that records every treatment cycle, patient, gamete/embryo donor and all resulting offspring. The Act also sets out the circumstances in which identifying information held on this register may be disclosed to third parties.
Sharing research information: The administration of a scheme for researchers to apply to receive access to identifying information held on the treatment register where it is not practicable to obtain consent to the disclosure from the persons to whom the information relates.
Providing information: The HFEA has a statutory duty to provide a range of information to stakeholders, including patients and licensed establishments. The HFEA does this by:
publishing advice and information for patients and the public about fertility treatments and services, such as ratings for treatment add-ons.
providing information and guidance for licensed establishments and healthcare professionals on topical issues via bulletins and also Chair’s letters;
responding to individual queries, verbally and in writing, from the fertility and wider healthcare sectors and the public
The HFEA is funded by licence fees, IVF treatment fees and a grant from UK central government with an expenditure of over £7 million.
Further information on the HFEA and what it does can be found at: www.hfea.gov.uk/about-us
Regulation of appointment
This post is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. For more information, please refer to the Commissioner’s website
Person specification
Essential criteria
The Department of Health and Social Care values and promotes diversity. We encourage applications from talented individuals from all backgrounds and across the whole of the United Kingdom. Boards of public bodies are most effective when they reflect the diversity of views of the society they serve.
We are recruiting 2 new HFEA Members: a Professional Member and a Lay Member.
To be classified as a Professional Member you must fulfil one of the following categories:
be a registered medical practitioner;
be concerned with the keeping or using of sperm, eggs, or embryos outside the body; or
be directly concerned with commissioning or funding research involving the keeping or use of sperm, eggs, or embryos or to have actively participated in any decision to do so
A person who would be recognised as a Professional cannot apply for a Lay post.
We are also seeking one of the new appointees (either the Lay or Professional Member) to also chair a sub-committee of the HFEA board: the Audit and Governance Committee (AGC).
To be considered, you must be able to demonstrate that you have the qualities, skills, and experience to meet all the essential criteria for appointment.
For both the Lay and Professional roles:
a strong career track record of significant delivery at a senior level within the private, public or voluntary sectors
ability to operate effectively as part of a team on the board of a national public body, where you provide support, challenge and assurance
sound judgement, with an ability to critically analyse a wide range of information and make evidence-based, strategic decisions
excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to gain the confidence of colleagues within your organisation and of its stakeholders
In addition, for the Professional member role, you need to be:
a clinician with senior level experience in fertility medicine and research
In addition, if you wish to be considered for the role of Chair of HFEA’s AGC, you must have:
senior corporate or finance experience (in the public, private or third sectors), with experience of governance, risk management, assurance, and the work of audit and risk committees.
The Department of Health and Social Care’s Public Appointments Team is managing this recruitment campaign. See here for details: