National patient survey 2024 – information and guidance
Help shape future UK fertility treatment – our national patient survey is open.
The National Patient Survey is run by the HFEA every three years to gather patient feedback on experiences of fertility treatment in the UK.
This invaluable feedback gives us a national overview of how patients experience fertility care in the UK, informing our work and benchmarking our activities.
We have provided more information below about participating in the survey, for those interested in taking part.
Before taking part, it is important that you read and understand the following information about the aims of the work and how the findings will be used. If you have any questions about any of the below information, please contact enquiriesteam@hfea.gov.uk.
What is the purpose of the survey?
This survey will look at experiences of fertility treatment in the UK and is open to patients, surrogates, and intended parents who are either currently undergoing treatment, or who have undergone treatment in the past five years.
It will cover things like your most recent round of treatment; the information or support sources you used; the use of donor eggs, sperm or embryos in your treatment; and any additional tests, treatments or technologies.
Some participants have experience as both a patient and a partner, for example, in reciprocal IVF (also known as shared motherhood). Please feel free to share information about either or both experiences in the survey.
How long does the survey take to complete?
The survey should take around 15-20 minutes to complete, depending on your answers.
You can withdraw at any time before completing the survey by closing the window. Once your answers are submitted, we will be unable to withdraw your response due to survey design. Questions marked with an asterisk are required and must be completed in order to submit your response.
If you use assistive technology, such as a screen reader, and need a version of this document in a more accessible format, please email enquiriesteam@hfea.gov.uk.
What are the possible benefits of taking part?
By taking part in this survey, you will be helping us to improve future fertility care and information for fertility patients in the United Kingdom.
What are the possible risks of taking part?
As with any survey on healthcare experience, it is possible you may experience some discomfort or distress when completing the survey.
If at any time you feel distressed or uncomfortable, please feel free to step away from the survey. Your survey answers will automatically save if you close your webpage to enable you to pick up where you left off, if you decide to continue at a later date.
Should you need to speak to someone, information on support can be found on the HFEA website, or via your clinic, if you are currently having treatment.
How will my responses be used?
As well as inspecting and licensing clinics, the HFEA provides unbiased and evidence-based information for people who are thinking about, or are going through, fertility treatment (HFEA: UK fertility regulator). The survey covers several different aspects of the fertility journey. We will use the results from this survey to both inform our work and improve the information we provide.
We may use any anonymised information, comments, or views you give in the survey in any report or other document we produce, which may be published online. To find out more about how the HFEA manages personal information, visit our Privacy Policy.
Your participation is entirely voluntary and completing this survey will not affect any service you individually receive from the HFEA or from any fertility service in the UK. If you use the free text boxes provided in the survey, please do not include any personal information that could identify you. Any personal data submitted will be removed.
Examples of how survey findings have been used in the past include:
Review date: 2 September 2026
