'Postcode lottery' on IVF treatment
Updated on 05 September 2007
Official documents have revealed the existence of a "postcode lottery" in the provision of fertility treatment to women seeking help to have a baby in England.
Details provided by 151 primary care trusts (PCTs) in response to a Department of Health survey show that some impose a range of different lifestyle, health and age tests to restrict provision of NHS fertility treatment.
And the amount of help offered varies widely in different parts of the country, with some trusts funding three cycles of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to try to create a "test-tube baby" while others fund none.
A majority of the 151 trusts (98) will pay for one cycle of IVF, according to the survey carried out in February this year, but 32 said they would fund up to two and seven would go as far as three cycles. Fourteen either did not fund IVF or did not provide details of the number of cycles they would pay for.
Similar variations were found for the intra cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) procedure in which a single sperm is injected into a woman's egg, with 90 PCTs saying they would fund a single cycle for a couple, 29 up to two and six up to three. One PCT said it was ready to pay for as many as six attempts by a couple to conceive by ICSI.
Just 54 of the PCTs indicated that they funded ovulation induction drugs, while 60 either said they did not or gave no response.
Of the 151 trusts, 42 were ready to fund between four and six cycles of donor insemination per couple, but 17 said they would pay for only two or three cycles and 14 less than two, while 78 either said they did not fund donor insemination or gave no information about how many cycles they would pay for.
Some 73 of the PCTs imposed a weight limit on female fertility patients, usually requiring a body mass index of between 18-19 and 29-30 for treatment. But 37 others did not provide details of any weight restrictions for treatment.
Meanwhile, 62 trusts said that they provided fertility treatment to women within the 23-39 age-range recommended in guidance from the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (Nice). Some 23 trusts implemented age restrictions different from the Nice guidance, such as 34-39 in some cases.
A Department of Health spokesman said: "We recognise that there are local variations in the provision of IVF and that this does cause distress to many childless couples who feel that they are not getting the treatment they need."
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