Still Waiting: Dari Taylor MP Pushes For Equal Access To NHS Fertility Treatment, UK

Main Category: Fertility
Article Date: 22 Oct 2008 - 8:00 PDT

email to a friend   printer friendly   view / write opinions   rate article

Dari Taylor, MP for Stockton South and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility, will put an amendment to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill on 22 October, which seeks to help the 1 in 6 couples in Stockton, Teesside and England who have problems in conceiving naturally.

In 2004, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) established guidelines on the treatment and management of people with fertility problems, which outlined that 'up to three full cycles should be made available on the NHS to all those couples meeting its agreed clinical criteria'. However, Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) are under no statutory obligation to follow these guidelines, which has resulted in a postcode lottery in access to NHS fertility treatment. According to a recent Department of Health survey, only 9 PCTs are implementing the NICE guidelines, with 143 offering either less or no treatment at all. In Stockton, and across Teesside, couples - who must meet strict eligibility criteria - are entitled to receive only one full cycle of IVF treatment on the NHS.

Dari's new clause would make it a statutory requirement for all PCTs to commission in vitro fertilisation services for the populations they serve. PCTs would additionally be required to produce an annual report on the performance and outcomes of their IVF services for their Strategic Health Authority, which would be published. The purpose of this is to encourage all PCTs to implement the NICE guideline in full and provide fair and equal access to all those with an established clinical need to a full range of infertility treatments on the NHS.

Dari said:

"This year we have celebrated both the 60th anniversary of the NHS and the 30th anniversary of IVF treatment. However, the greater majority of infertile couples are forced to access fertility treatment privately. This is hideously expensive, and invariably the only treatment which is on offer is IVF.

Many infertile couples still do not have any access to NHS-funded fertility treatment - either because their PCT simply does not fund such services, or because they do not fit into the confusing myriad of criteria set out by many PCTs before people can access these services. In some areas, a woman must be under 35 to receive treatment - in others she must over the age of 36. There is no possible clinical justification for these requirements. Other PCTs make stipulations about the length and nature of one's relationship, health, and if one has stepchildren. In some areas people who have funded any private fertility treatment are barred from accessing treatment on the NHS.

Some people are of the belief that fertility treatment should only be privately available - taking the view that having children is a lifestyle choice. However, the straight fact is that infertility is recognised as a disease by the World Health Organisation and the majority of infertile couples are diagnosed with a medical condition. These conditions include Endometriosis, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Abnormal Ovulation and Azoospermia.

I am of the belief that these medical conditions should be treated like any other illness under the founding principle of the NHS - that people should be treated free and at the point of need. Only when the NICE guidelines become a mandatory requirement - as advocated by my amendment - will infertile couples be treated fairly and equally to all other NHS patients."

Issued on behalf of Dari Taylor's Office
Susan Seenan
Communications Officer
Infertility Network UK (INUK) and More To Life (MTL)
http://www.infertilitynetworkuk.com