NHS funding for IVF varies from borough to borough.
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Voices across London are calling for an end to inequality in accessing IVF on the NHS. They described the current funding model as a “postcode lottery”.
In principle
NHS funding for IVF is allocated by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
These are the local NHS bodies responsible for two thirds of the entire NHS England budget.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines advise that the NHS should offer three cycles of IVF to couples who have been unable to conceive naturally. That’s for women below 40.
The reality
In London currently, only Camden meets the criteria by offering three full cycles of IVF.
According to data on CCG funding compiled by Fertility Fairness, 29 of London’s 32 boroughs offer just one cycle of IVF on the NHS.
Most CCGs state that both partners must have no living children.
Couples living in Croydon cannot receive IVF on the NHS at all.
What campaigners say
Anya Sizer, London Regional Organizer at Fertility Network UK:
“The World Health Organisation defines infertility as a disease and, as such, the NHS is there to treat it.”
“Unless we find a way to make access more equal, we will end up in a society where some people can afford to try for a family and others can’t.”
A doctor’s perspective
Gynaecologist Mr Ellis Downes, a Harley Street Consultant and Professor of Gynaecology at The Wellington Hospital:
“The NHS is severely resource constrained. I, like many gynaecologists, am very unhappy and we don’t feel like infertility gets the priority it deserves.”
“Despite very strong NICE guidelines on IVF, it’s currently a huge postcode lottery.”
“It cannot be right that where you live in a country determines whether you can get a baby on the NHS, and this must be urgently addressed.”
In the press
Co-Founders of IVF Babble, a magazine devoted to fertility issues, Tracey Bambrough and Sara Marshall-Page:
“We get so many emails every day from people who are so desperate. From borrowing from family members to maxed out credit cards. It’s awful.”
“We do everything in our power to raise as much money to offer as many grants as we can [to couples to pay for private IVF].”
The Petition
Together IVF Babble and Fertility Network UK launched an online petition for equality of IVF funding across all CCGs. It has received over 100,000 signatures.
The petition was presented to 10 Downing Street last month.
Parliamentary Support
The campaign has also received support from MPs
Labour’s Steve McCabe brought a Ten Minute Rule Bill to end the IVF ‘postcode lottery’ back in April 2018.
The Access to Fertility Services Bill, sponsored by Mr McCabe, is expected to have its second reading debate on 15 March.
It pledges to introduce “equality of access” to fertility services in England and “to provide for a minimum number of fertility treatments to be available to women on the basis of their age.”
NHS comment
An NHS England spokesperson told City News:
“Ultimately these are legally decisions for CCGs, who are under an obligation to balance the various competing demands on the NHS locally while living within the budget parliament has allocated.”
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Standfirst
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HeadlineLondon’s IVF system a “postcode lottery”
Short HeadlineLondon's IVF "postcode lottery"
StandfirstCampaigners and consultants call for equal access to IVF funding on the NHS.
Voices across London are calling for an end to inequality in accessing IVF on the NHS. They described the current funding model as a “postcode lottery”.
In principle
NHS funding for IVF is allocated by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs).
These are the local NHS bodies responsible for two thirds of the entire NHS England budget.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines advise that the NHS should offer three cycles of IVF to couples who have been unable to conceive naturally. That’s for women below 40.
The reality
In London currently, only Camden meets the criteria by offering three full cycles of IVF.
According to data on CCG funding compiled by Fertility Fairness, 29 of London’s 32 boroughs offer just one cycle of IVF on the NHS.
Most CCGs state that both partners must have no living children.
Couples living in Croydon cannot receive IVF on the NHS at all.
What campaigners say
Anya Sizer, London Regional Organizer at Fertility Network UK:
“The World Health Organisation defines infertility as a disease and, as such, the NHS is there to treat it.”
“Unless we find a way to make access more equal, we will end up in a society where some people can afford to try for a family and others can’t.”
A doctor’s perspective
Gynaecologist Mr Ellis Downes, a Harley Street Consultant and Professor of Gynaecology at The Wellington Hospital:
“The NHS is severely resource constrained. I, like many gynaecologists, am very unhappy and we don’t feel like infertility gets the priority it deserves.”
“Despite very strong NICE guidelines on IVF, it’s currently a huge postcode lottery.”
“It cannot be right that where you live in a country determines whether you can get a baby on the NHS, and this must be urgently addressed.”
In the press
Co-Founders of IVF Babble, a magazine devoted to fertility issues, Tracey Bambrough and Sara Marshall-Page:
“We get so many emails every day from people who are so desperate. From borrowing from family members to maxed out credit cards. It’s awful.”
“We do everything in our power to raise as much money to offer as many grants as we can [to couples to pay for private IVF].”
The Petition
Together IVF Babble and Fertility Network UK launched an online petition for equality of IVF funding across all CCGs. It has received over 100,000 signatures.
The petition was presented to 10 Downing Street last month.
Parliamentary Support
The campaign has also received support from MPs
Labour’s Steve McCabe brought a Ten Minute Rule Bill to end the IVF ‘postcode lottery’ back in April 2018.
The Access to Fertility Services Bill, sponsored by Mr McCabe, is expected to have its second reading debate on 15 March.
It pledges to introduce “equality of access” to fertility services in England and “to provide for a minimum number of fertility treatments to be available to women on the basis of their age.”
NHS comment
An NHS England spokesperson told City News:
“Ultimately these are legally decisions for CCGs, who are under an obligation to balance the various competing demands on the NHS locally while living within the budget parliament has allocated.”
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