HEALTH chiefs in York and North Yorkshire have come under fresh fire over their continuing refusal to fund fertility treatment.
A new report by MPs named NHS North Yorkshire and York as one of five primary care trusts offering no IVF, in the face of guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) that couples should be given up to three IVF cycles on the NHS.
York father Matthew Woodcock, whose wife, Anna, had twins Esther Rose and Heidi Mae last Christmas through IVF funded by a Christian friend, following the trust’s refusal to fund treatment, called yesterday for the “scandalous” policy to be changed.
“It is so wrong that the postcode lottery meant that we and other people in York were unable to get IVF on the NHS, when people in nearby places such as Leeds could,” said Mr Woodcock, 35, of Acomb.
York Central MP Hugh Bayley has also called for a re-think. He said: “We mustn’t end up with a health service that says that some treatments are only to be available to people who can afford to pay for private treatment. Those on low incomes also have the right to these treatments.”
He said he had fought for several constituents to get NHS access to fertility treatment, which did an enormous amount to promote wellbeing. The report from the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility showed that more than 70 per cent of PCTs were ignoring guidance to offer infertile couples three chances at IVF.
It said NICE guidelines had been “taken out of context by PCTs and used to place arbitrary restrictions on the provision of IVF”.
The York and North Yorkshire Trust reiterated comments made by medical director Dr David Geddes in March when it decided to continue restricting access to IVF treatment.
He said then that it recognised its actions would be of concern to many and that NICE guidance suggested patients should have access to assisted conception services, but the trust also had to have due regard to the need to remain financially solvent. He said such difficult decisions were the “inevitable consequence of the serious position faced by our health community”.
• Do you have an IVF story to tell? Phone health reporter Richard Catton on 01904 567155 or email richard.catton@thepress.co.uk
Scandal of IVF lottery on NHS
FOR couples desperate to have a child but unable to conceive naturally, IVF offers real hope. In York and North Yorkshire, couples have to pay for this hope.
The local primary care trust refuses to fund the fertility treatment, despite national guidelines recommending that eligible couples be given at least three free cycles of treatment.
Today, a York father whose wife last year had twins thanks to privately funded IVF treatment described the situation as ‘scandalous’.
“It is so wrong that the postcode lottery meant that we and other people in York were unable to get IVF on the NHS, when people in nearby places such as Leeds could,” said 35-year-old Matthew Woodcock, from Acomb.
Certainly, it seems deeply unfair that people living on one side of an arbitrary divide qualify for free treatment, whereas those just a few miles away do not.
At the heart of this story, however, lies the question of how we should best spend limited money and resources at a time of public spending cuts.
Being unable to have children is not an ‘illness’. Yet it can have devastating, long-term implications for couples who long for a family. IVF is not a cosmetic procedure. It is about using medical science to help couples fulfil one of our deepest human impulses.
But should that be at the expense of a hip replacement, or treatment for chronic pain, or some other vital health intervention?
If we feel genuinely angry about health bureaucrats restricting access to health care because of cash shortages, these are the kind of questions we need to ask ourselves. Along with another one: how much are we all prepared to pay, through taxes, for our NHS?
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel