Hannah Newby, a 33-year-old woman from Southwell in Nottinghamshire, has been diagnosed with Turner Syndrome, which led to her infertility and therefore dashed her dreams of having a family in her teenage years. She was only given one cycle of IVF under the local NHS integrated care board (ICB) policy, but her chance for the family she has always hoped for could come true as the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care Board (ICB) is seeking feedback on its fertility services policies. Meanwhile, residents’ chance for accessing NHS fertility services is dependent on other criteria, such as their health, age, and whether they already have children from a previous relationship. Also, there are significant differences in fertility services policy across the East Midlands’ five integrated care boards, which cover Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Rutland, Northamptonshire, and Lincolnshire.
Bassetlaw is the only area in Nottinghamshire which currently provides residents with access to three rounds of IVF on the NHS. However, Mrs Newby believes it is fairer if there were no postcode lottery, and people had the same chance of receiving the same treatment regardless of whether they live in the city centre or out in Newark and Bassetlaw, where geographical proximity determines whether the number of rounds of IVF a person has access to. Under the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidance, women aged under 40 should be offered three cycles of IVF if certain conditions are met.
According to Dr James Hopkisson, medical director of TFP Nurture Fertility Clinic in Sandiacre, it could cost Mrs Newby up to £9,000 per cycle if she chooses to go for private treatments. Although Hopkisson believes in a decent civilised society that is looking at helping people achieve their family, the proposal by the East Midlands to standardise the policy could limit patients to only one cycle of NHS-funded IVF. Currently, the private clinic is contracted by the NHS, with about 40% of its cycles being NHS-funded and its patients primarily coming from Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Lincolnshire.
Dr Dave Briggs, medical director at Nottingham and Nottinghamshire ICB, acknowledged the importance of IVF and fertility services and that NICE’s guidance to offer women under 40 three cycles of IVF should be part of the area’s local priorities. Briggs believes that the proposal is aimed at ensuring everyone will have the same access to this critical service regardless of where they live by looking for a single policy across the entire East Midlands. The ICB calls on residents to provide their feedback on the proposal by answering an online survey or joining online public meetings between now and the 10th of January 2025
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