End the postcode lottery for Oxfordshire residents

End the postcode lottery for Oxfordshire residents when it comes to IVF funding and to ensure that current guidelines for IVF funding are adhered to by Oxfordshire PCT.

NICE clearly state in their guidelines for fertility;

“Couples in which the woman is aged 23-39 years at the time of treatment and who have an identified cause for their fertility problems (such as azoospermia or bilateral tubal occlusion) or who have infertility of at least 3 years’ duration should be offered up to three stimulated cycles of in vitro fertilization treatment.”

Unfortunately, many PCT’s do not adhere to this, leaving many couples facing a tough financial commitment or the bleak possibility of having to wait until they are old enough to meet the PCT’s criteria. Whereas some PCT’s do not offer funding for treatment at all.

Please note: Waiting for treatment reduces a women’s fertility rate.

It seems that funding for IVF is not given on the basis of fairness, but on where you live.

For example, if you are in Coventry, your local PCT will follow nice guidelines, however in Oxford your PCT use their own rules making you wait until 35 years old. At this age success per cycle drops to only 23.6% (HFEA 2006).

This discrimination is unacceptable as National Health Insurance is not dependant on where you live, so why should healthcare be?

Former Secretary of State for Health, Dr John Reid, said that he wanted “all PCTs, including those who at present provide no IVF treatment, to offer at least one full cycle of treatment to all those eligible. In the longer term I would expect the NHS to make progress towards full implementation of the Nice guidance”. His deadline for this was April 2005, but little has changed

All I am asking for is - End the postcode lottery for Oxfordshire residents when it comes to IVF funding and ensure that current guidelines for IVF funding are adhered to by Oxfordshire PCT.