‘Postcode lottery’ on IVF treatment
(cz) 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. more…
From: »Channel 4 News« (UK)