As you may have seen, last year we launched an online petition with the Fertility Network UK, to fight back against the current NHS IVF postcode lottery. The response was overwhelming, with tens of thousands of you signing the petition and backing the campaign.
We proudly delivered your signatures to 10 Downing Street and waited with bated breath to see what the Government would do next.
Sadly though, Brexit interrupted everything and we haven’t seen any change… yet.
However, our passion still remains and we won’t stop until we see a change in the mindset of the Government – we want them to be doing much more to force CCGs to do what has been recommended by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), which states in its guidelines that the NHS should offer women under the age of 40 three full cycles of IVF, if they have been trying for a child for more than two years.
We understand there are budget cuts within NHS and can see the need to make changes to accommodate this, but inflicting this much emotional strain on people who are at their most vulnerable and exposed is not right. This was highlighted last week on ITV’s This Morning show, when an 38 year old woman broke down in tears over the ‘unfair’ IVF postcode lottery imposed by the NHS
Steph and Tom (38 and 40) live in Buckinghamshire, where they have been turned down by local CCG (Clinical Commissioning Group) restrictions. Steph’s age, and the fact that Tom has children from a previous relationship, ruled them out of eligibility.
Steph became emotional as she recounted the fact that a woman older than her was able to get 3 rounds of IVF on the NHS simply because she lives in London. This is a prime example of the unjust ‘postcode lottery’ that we have written about in the past.
