Bourn Hall hopes delayed decision on free IVF in Cambridgeshire will result in positive outcomes for all
Just hours before Cambridgeshire & Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) were due to meet to consider the reinstatement of NHS funding for fertility treatment in the county, it announced it has postponed its decision until August 6.
This is in light of a letter received by the CCG from Department of Health Minister Jackie Doyle-Price about the commissioning of IVF services.
Jackie Doyle Price MP writes: “I cannot emphasise enough that it is not acceptable for CCGs to offer no routine access to fertility services. All CCGs should move towards full implementation of the NICE fertility guidelines recommendations”
Bourn Hall Clinic provides NHS funded IVF treatment across the East of England and is the only provider with clinics based in the region.
Bourn Hall has been providing NHS funded IVF treatment successfully for over ten years with many patients achieving a pregnancy on their first attempt and eight out 10 of these Bourn Hall patients will have a baby after three cycles.
Dr Thanos Papathanasiou, lead clinician at Bourn Hall Clinic, responded to the announcement: “We welcome the Minister’s letter which recommends fair and equal access to fertility services. The NICE guidelines recommend that three cycles is the most clinically and cost-effective way to deliver IVF for patients.
"We have solid evidence from large numbers of cycles and when Bourn Hall was able to offer this to Cambridgeshire patients, who met the NHS eligibility requirements, eight out of 10 patients had a baby.
“Cutting funding for IVF in Cambridgeshire has been devastating for so many people. Infertility is a serious health issue that impacts emotional and mental wellbeing, and pushes relationships to breaking point. The current postcode lottery of a system is leaving people in limbo without any resolution.
“From our experience in Norfolk, providing a fully integrated fertility pathway for the NHS (including advice, diagnosis and treatment), we know that the current patient pathway in Cambridgeshire could be streamlined – helping to increase natural pregnancy rates and save costs.
"The savings Bourn Hall could offer the CCG by providing a more cost effective pathway could be used to mitigate the costs of reinstating NHS funding for IVF. We hope this delay in decision making will give us the opportunity to meet with the CCG and discuss our suggested improvements to the fertility journey and improve patient outcomes for all.”
The CCG announced its decision to delay today's (Tuesday) discussion in a brief statement on its website, it said: "The CCG has today received new information from the Department of Health about the commissioning of IVF services. Because of this the CCG has decided to review this information with NHS England and bring the decision back to the CCG Governing Body on August 6.”
