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Exeter
has a long tradition of the provision of subfertility treatment. Artificial
Insemination treatment using donor sperm was pioneered in the UK in the 1940s
by a local independent medical practitioner, Dr. Margaret Jackson. Her work
was taken over by NHS Consultant Mr. David Sykes, who set up one of the first
dedicated NHS Fertility Clinics. On his retirement the work was continued by
Mr. Jonathan West, who expanded the range of services available to make it
the first licensed IVFcentre on the Devon and Cornwall Peninsula. The IVF
service runs in parallel with the Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital's NHS Fertility Clinic which it supports with facilities, equipment,
nursing, medical and scientific help.
With
the aid of enthusiastic nursing, secretarial and scientific support staff the
Clinic has continued to expand and flourish and was granted one of the first
three-year licenses issued by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology
Authority.
The overall ethos of the
Clinic is not only to provide a range of treatments which are as
comprehensive and scientifically advanced as possible, but also a
considerable degree of 'one-to-one' counselling and provision of nursing time
for thorough briefing and discussion of the procedures which couples undergo.
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