Keeping you safe

We have a meticulous set of safety and control measures in place to keep you and our staff safe, so your parenting plans can continue as normal.

Covid-19 December 15th update

As we enter a further phase of the Covid-19 saga we have once again reviewed our policies to keep all our patients and staff safe.

We continue to encourage all those trying to conceive, whether naturally or with our help, to complete the two doses of the Covid vaccination and booster as per the latest Government guidelines.

All the evidence to date shows that Covid vaccination is safe for all those attempting to conceive or once pregnant and has no negative impact on future fertility. If however you contract Covid whilst pregnant, and you are not vaccinated, you and your baby may become very unwell.

All our fertility treatment programs continue uninterrupted and any cycles booked to start over the next few weeks will continue as planned.

Please do be aware that the new Omicron variant is becoming the dominant variant in circulation and is highly transmissible.

We therefore ask our patients to fill our pre-appointment questionnaire and to carry out a home lateral flow test before each appointment to ensure you do not have a wasted cycle as a result of becoming ill with Covid and also to protect our staff and other patients who are attending the clinic.

Please do not bring your partner or children to your appointments. We allow partners to be present during the intrauterine insemination procedure, embryo transfer procedure and early pregnancy scans as long as they have completed the pre-appointment questionnaire and lateral flow test.

We are not at this time asking patients to self-isolate when they are on treatment, but please do be mindful of the highly contagious nature of this new variant and avoid crowded places and wear a mask at all times when you are out and about to protect yourselves.

Let’s all keep safe together 😊

Dr. Carole Gilling Smith
CEO & Medical Director

Coronavirus articles

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Agora Clinic Covid Policy

  1. We welcome all patients without the need for self-isolation before treatment.
  2. We do ask you to wear a mask for all your appointments and we will continue to check everyone’s temperature on arrival.
  3. We ask all patients to self-test for Covid-19 at home before their first appointment using the home lateral flow test provided through the Government website https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing/regular-rapid-coronavirus-tests-if-you-do-not-have-symptoms/ and then to test twice weekly once on treatment.
  4. Please do not bring any children with you to your appointments as we need to minimise the number of people in our waiting areas and reduce the risk of infection.
  5. You and your partner will both be able to attend for intrauterine insemination and embryo transfer appointments as well as early pregnancy scans as long as you are both testing twice weekly for Covid.
  6. Remember to stay safe at all times to reduce your risk as well as that of others attending the Agora.
  • All patients attending the Clinic will be asked to complete our COVID-19 self-assessment questionnaire which is on our patient portal. You will be advised when to complete this and send it in.
  • Due to the current high rates of COVID-19, and the need to keep everyone at the clinic safe, you will be advised on our new COVID-19 testing policy which now applies to all patients attending the clinic or having treatment.
  • We would like to reassure you that all our staff undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
  • We ask that you to wear a face mask when you attend for your appointments and that you keep that face mask just for your Agora appointments.
  • We continue our handshaking and two metre rule policy. Please know that although all our staff are wearing masks, behind that mask is a friendly smiling face ready to listen and support you every step of your journey.
  • We ask all patients to wash their hands in our washroom facilities on arrival. Please use hot water and soap as advised by the Department of Health.
  • We have adjusted our seating arrangements so where possible you will not be sitting closer than two metres to another patient or member of staff. Obviously, we need to relax this rule a little when you are having a treatment such as a blood test or procedure.
  • We have removed all magazines and newspapers. We are encouraging our patients to bring their own phones, ipads or laptops to use while waiting.
  • We have had to unfortunately suspend access to our drinks machines (water and hot drinks). If you need some water please ask one of our staff.
  • We have removed all toys and books from our child play area.
  • We ask you to use the tissues provided on each table if you need to and dispose of them in the bins provided.
  • We operate frequent cleaning in specific areas of the clinic (including door handles, reception area, treatment areas, toilets etc.) using hospital-grade disinfectant wipes and despite the cold weather open all our windows to ventilate our reception area during the lunch break and at the beginning and end of the day.

We have robust policies to protect all our staff and patient and a detailed contingency plan to act swiftly should we be alerted to a case of coronavirus in another patient or member of staff.

Patient support

We are known for our excellent patient support and know that right now this is more important than ever. We have adapted many of our patient support options to the ‘virtual’ social distancing measures imposed upon us.

We are offering virtual Patient Support sessions, counselling through Skype as well as weekly Q & A with myself through our closed Facebook Group, Agora Friends.

  • If you are already a patient, we continue to respond to your questions through our various channels, including the Salve App and Agora Friends (please message us if you want to find out how to join our closed Facebook group Agora Friends).
  • Our Counsellors Malcolm and Heather are available for counselling support through telephone or skype.
  • We are offering regular ‘Virtual Patient Support’ sessions (please email mmgu@agoraclinic to book in)

Other Coronavirus updates

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