Researchers at Queen Mary University London have published new research showing that the boundaries between NHS-funded and self-funded IVF treatments are increasingly blurred.
Due to limited provision of NHS-funded cycles in some parts of the UK, many patients are unable to have the treatment they want, or are struggling to save up for private cycles if their NHS treatment is unsuccessful.
'Participants in our study went into fertility treatment expecting they may need to pay thousands of pounds for it, even if they were having NHS care,' said author Dr Manuela Perrotta. 'People know there is limited public funding for IVF, and each cycle has quite a low success rate which decreases further over time – so even if NHS care is available, it may not be enough.'
Furthermore, because some NHS services are outsourced to private providers, and some NHS hospitals offer private treatment, the same patients may end up having NHS and subsequently private treatment at the same facility or with the same clinician.
'Our research shows that the boundaries between NHS and privately provided IVF are not as neat as they seem, and the hybrid public/private infertility landscape has had profound consequences for all IVF patients,' said author Dr Josie Hamper, now based at the University of Oxford. 'The representation of a public/private divide contributes to inequalities in treatment experience, and does not reflect patients' experiences of IVF in the UK.'
Their research is published in Health & Place.
