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132 Gynaecology and Colposcopy 2020 | NMH Annual Rep t the management of infertility in the Irish public sector. The Aspire Fellow will commence in July 2021 and will work with the Reproductive Medicine team at the NMH to enhance public fertility care. This will provide an opportunity to engage with relevant stakeholders including primary care providers, hospital managers in the IEHG, NWHIP and the general public. C. Telehealth and patient e-learning digital platform As a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic and in line with international guidance, mitigation strategies were introduced to clinic procedures to enhance social distancing, to reduce staff and patient footfall, to increase the use of PPE and to upgrade hygiene procedure. MFC remained open for telemedicine consultations and continued to provide virtual psychological and clinical support to patients. To facilitate online patient education on fertility treatment (including lifestyle preparation, initial investigations and blood screens, treatment protocols etc), a multidisciplinary team of MFC clinicians, nurses and scientists generated an e-learning platform. These online tools have been very well received by patients and are routinely reviewed by the team at MFC. D. The Childhood Cancer Fertility Project (MFC and Irish Cancer Society) The Childhood Cancer Fertility Project was launched jointly with the Irish Cancer Society in August 2020, MFC having been successful in securing grant funding from the Irish Cancer Society for a three-year project (2020-2022) to develop and provide fertility preservation for children, adolescents and young adults. This service is provided in close collaboration with colleagues in Children's Health Ireland (CHI) at Crumlin. Clear referral pathways and staff and patient information resources have been developed. The project currently provides supports and services to male and female adolescents in the form of sperm and oocyte freezing. It is planned to develop ovarian tissue cryopreservation for children during the course of the grant. Oocyte vitrification in 14 to 17-year-old girls with newly diagnosed cancer is challenging and the expert assistance of our anaesthetic colleagues is an essential part of their care. E. Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 The Children and Family Relationships Act of 2015, which governs donor assisted reproduction was commenced on 5 th May 202o – 5 years after its enactment. This is a very welcome milestone in terms of Ireland eventually beginning to legislate for the medically, socially and ethically complex field of assisted reproduction. Several meetings were held with the Department of Health and a large body of work was required including the development of patient consent forms, information leaflets and careful treatment and reporting pathways. F. ESHRE Accreditation Consultants at the NMH and MFC currently provide training in Reproductive Medicine for Specialist Registrars. In 2020, NMH/MFC applied to the European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) for recognition as an ESHRE / European Board and College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology (EBCOG)-affiliated subspecialist training centre. This application is currently pending – Stage one approved, Stage 2 currently on hold due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Establishment of this subspecialty program will formalise training at a senior level in Reproductive Medicine and will make trainees eligible to become European Fellows of Reproductive Medicine (EFRM). Clinical Activity (Tables at the end of section) Dedicated hospital clinics for reproductive medicine, encompassing infertility, endometriosis, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome continued throughout 2020 with a total of 234 first visits, 250 return appointments and 92 telephone consultations. Eighty-seven women/ couples were seen at the recurring miscarriage clinic and the new menopause clinic saw 42 women and did 19 telephone consultations. At Merrion Fertility Clinic there were 728 new consultations and 1330 return consults. Conscious sedation was provided by Consultant Anesthetists for all oocyte retrievals and surgical sperm retrievals. Nine cases of surgical sperm retrieval (SSR) were carried out in 2020. 46 cycles of oocyte vitrification were completed. The average number of oocytes frozen per patient was 8. The mean age of women undergoing fresh IVF/ICSI cycles was 36.7 years. In 2020, 21% of all cycles started were in women aged 40 or more, consistent with the rates in previous years. Elective single embryo transfer eSET: 67.8% of MFC patients had a single embryo transfer in 2020, reflecting the clinic's strong single embryo transfer

