Archive for tag 'NHS'. Page 1 of 1

• 4th
  Nov
  2011

  NHS IVF Funding - Who's Most Deserving?

  The NHS IVF ‘postcode lottery’ was back in the news again recently, when an investigation by the Daily Telegraph revealed that almost a fifth of primary care trusts (PCTs) are offering single women IVF funded by the NHS.

  It sparked huge debate, largely because in some areas of the country, single women can get NHS-funded IVF, whilst in other areas couples are being denied treatment simply because of where they live, or because of other criteria, such as one partner already having ch...

  Read more

• 30th
  Mar
  2011

  NHS IVF cut for couples in Yorkshire - egg sharing offers hope

  North Yorkshire and York has become the latest primary care trust to restrict funding for NHS IVF treatment.

  Couples in the region were hoping that the trust would plough funds into IVF treatment at the start of the new financial year in April. But health chiefs have dealt them a blow by maintaining the policy of restricting IVF, deciding not to routinely commission assisted conception services for 2011/12.

  Now couples will have to meet two ‘exceptions’ criteria to even be consider...

  Read more

• 21st
  Mar
  2011

  Would you move house to get NHS IVF treatment?

  A poll run by woman’s magazine SHE has revealed that a staggering two-thirds of women would move house if it meant they could access free NHS IVF treatment.

  Over 1,000 women were quizzed about infertility in the survey, with one in four revealing they had actually visited their GP over concerns about their fertility, whilst 80 per cent knew someone who had had problems getting pregnant.

  Many women also admitted they had suffered financial difficulties through needing infertility treatmen...

  Read more

• 9th
  Feb
  2011

  Health trusts warned against cutting NHS IVF treatment

  All 152 Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) across the UK have received a timely slap-on-the-wrist reminder of their duties to provide free cycles of IVF for couples on the NHS.

  David Flory, the deputy chief executive of the NHS, has written to health chiefs who commission fertility treatments to remind them that they should heed the current NICE guidelines of three cycles of IVF for eligible couples where the woman is aged between 23 and 39.

  The move comes after several PCTs in the UK, including St...

  Read more

• 14th
  Dec
  2010

  Need IVF? Don't rely on the NHS

  If you’re struggling to conceive, don’t rely on the NHS to offer you IVF treatment. The media has been full of reports that health trusts up and down the country are either stopping IVF treatment altogether, or are suspending treatment to try and save money...

  Read more

• 3rd
  Aug
  2010

  HFEA to be axed - What this means for patients

  The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, responsible for the regulation of fertility clinics and the use of embryos and sperm in treatment, is to be closed down by the Government.

  Health secretary Andrew Lansley announced that the HFEA is amongst a group of health watchdog bodies which will be merged or culled in an effort to save costs and red tape within the NHS.

  The HFEA will continue its work for the time being, but will transfer its functions to other bodies by the end of the cur...

  Read more

• 19th
  May
  2010

  Male Infertility - a ticking timebomb?

  Male infertility is a ‘ticking timebomb’ according to latest reports. With one in five men cited as having fertility problems, scientists now believe that there should be more focus and research on why male infertility is becoming so common. A professor from the University of Copenhagen described the problem ‘as important as global warming’, and amongst other areas scientists are now looking into the possibility that a mother’s diet whilst pregnant can affect the future fertility of an...

  Read more

• 3rd
  Feb
  2010

  How to get IVF treatment on the NHS - will your Local Authority pay?

  Anyone who has ever sought NHS-funded fertility treatment will tell you that it’s often down to where you live – not your fertility problem – that dictates whether you get IVF. Treatment for infertility varies widely across the country. In the present economic crisis, few Primary Care Trusts in England will offer the recommended three cycles of IVF on the NHS – others don’t offer any at all.

  Last year, MP Grant Shapps said a ‘postcode IVF lottery’ operates, which not only depen...

  Read more