PET PET
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
Become a Friend Donate
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
    • People
    • Press Office
    • Our History
  • Get Involved
    • Become a Friend of PET
    • Volunteer
    • Campaigns
    • Writing Scheme
    • Partnership and Sponsorship
    • Advertise with Us
  • Donate
    • Become a Friend of PET
  • BioNews
    • News
    • Comment
    • Reviews
    • Elsewhere
    • Topics
    • Glossary
    • Newsletters
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Previous Events
  • Engagement
    • Policy and Projects
      • Resources
    • Education
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us
  • My Account
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements
PETBioNewsCommentLevelling up in London?

BioNews

Levelling up in London?

Published 14 May 2021 posted in Comment and appears in BioNews 1095

Author

Catherine Hill

Head of Communications
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.

If you're a fertility patient in the London borough of Camden you're one of the more fortunate Londoners in terms of access to NHS-funded fertility treatment....

If you're a fertility patient in the London borough of Camden you're one of the more fortunate Londoners in terms of access to NHS-funded fertility treatment. Camden is currently the only area in the capital city to provide up to three partial cycles of IVF, the rest offer London's citizens just one partial IVF cycle, or two embryo transfers. However, the advantages of living in Camden could be about to disappear because the borough's fertility policy is now up for review, with patients being asked to give their views on what a new policy should provide before a decision is announced in the second half of 2021.

The outward trigger for the policy review is the creation of a new clinical commissioning group (CCG) in April 2020. The new North Central London CCG, brought together five previously separate London CCGs: Camden, Barnet, Enfield, Haringey and Islington, which all had their own fertility policies with different treatments provided, and slightly different eligibility criteria. The big question now is: will North Central London CCG level up or level down with its new fertility policy?

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommends that all clinically eligible fertility patients under 40 in England and Wales are offered three full cycles of IVF, where a full cycle is defined as one fresh embryo transfer after ovarian stimulation, plus the transfer of all viable frozen embryos resulting from that ovarian stimulation; women aged between 40-42 should be offered one full IVF cycle. However, this recommendation is not mandatory, and the result is that massive disparities in the provision of NHS-funded fertility treatment exist, alongside inequities in the criteria to access help.

If you're one of the one in six couples struggling with the heartbreak of infertility, Scotland is far and away the best place to live in the UK, as it provides three full cycles of IVF. In England, what you are entitled to depends on your GP's postcode, with the vast majority of CCGs ignoring the national guidance, three areas not providing any NHS treatment at all, and only 20 CCGs (15 percent) providing three cycles of IVF, according to data from patient charity Fertility Network.

However, not all of these 20 CCGs provide three full IVF cycles. Instead, they ration the care offered by limiting the number of frozen embryo transfers possible within an IVF cycle. Camden is one of the areas that does this, so although it is unique in London in offering three IVF cycles, it, like many other CCGs, has ignored the NICE guidance and redefined what an IVF cycle is, deciding that it comprises one fresh embryo transfer and just one frozen embryo transfer, rather than all resulting frozen embryo transfers.

In Wales, there is equality in provision in that all areas offer the same number of cycles, however, patients can only access up to two IVF cycles and these are not full cycles – instead they consist of one fresh embryo transfer and one frozen embryo transfer. In Northern Ireland, the situation is even worse: although everyone is offered the same help, eligible patients can only access a partial IVF cycle – one fresh embryo transfer and one frozen embryo transfer.

So what will the new North Central London CCG do as it seeks to reconcile five different fertility policies? Will it decide to give everyone what Camden residents are currently entitled to – three partial IVF cycles? Or will the bar be lowered and just one partial cycle offered, in line with current policies from Barnet, Enfield and Haringey, or perhaps the two embryo transfers that Islington offers?

There are other discrepancies in the treatments offered. Same sex couples in Enfield and Haringey can currently access NHS funding for intrauterine insemination (IUI), but same sex couples in Barnet, Camden and Islington cannot. In addition, if patients wishing to use donor eggs have self-funded the provision of their donor gametes, they can access NHS-funded IVF in Barnet, Enfield and Islington, but not in Camden and Haringey.

Slight differences in eligibility criteria also exist. In Barnet, women have to be under 42 to be able to access IVF, but in the other four areas the cut-off age is under 43. Same sex couples and single women under 36 have to jump through more hoops in Barnet, Camden, Enfield and Islington before they can access funding for fertility treatment. They need to self-fund 12 rounds of IUI to prove their infertility before they are eligible for help, while same sex couples and single women in Haringey only have to self-fund 6 six rounds of IUI before accessing NHS-funded fertility treatment.

Aligning fertility policies when CCGs merge doesn't always lead to patients being worse off. When South West London CCG standardised its fertility policies in March 2020, bringing together the former CCGs of Croydon, Kingston, Merton, Richmond, Sutton and Wandsworth, it was good news for fertility patients in Croydon. It meant access to one partial cycle of NHS-funded fertility treatment was reinstated in Croydon, after the service had been decommissioned in 2017. Let's hope there's a similar story across the river in north London.

The public's views on North Central London CCG's fertility policy review are being sought from 10 May – 9 July 2021 here.

Related Articles

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
25 July 2022 • 3 minutes read

North Central London ICB updates fertility policy

by Emily Vine

North Central London Integrated Care Board (NCL ICB) has introduced a new single fertility policy, commencing today, that enables those eligible, and under 40, to have three cycles of IVF and six embryos transferred under NHS funding...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts equipment used for embryo biopsy.
News
27 June 2022 • 2 minutes read

North East London CCG proposes offering three funded IVF cycles

by Hannah Flynn

North East London Clinical Commissioning Group is consulting on introducing a single fertility policy that will provide eligible patients three rounds of NHS-funded IVF, increasing access in some areas...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
19 March 2021 • 2 minutes read

Scottish Government report proposes funding more IVF

by Jennifer Frosch

Ministers should consider increasing the number of IVF cycles provided by the NHS, according to a report commissioned by the Scottish Government...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
Comment
23 November 2020 • 6 minutes read

IVF Success: What Makes Scotland Special?

by Ana Hallgarten

The most recent event organised by PET highlighted the fantastic work that has taken place in Scotland for those in need of fertility treatment...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
21 August 2020 • 2 minutes read

IVF postcode lottery for breast cancer patients

by Dr Valerie Shaikly

Breast cancer patients seeking NHS-funded fertility treatment are facing a postcode lottery to access the service...

Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
CC0 1.0
Image by Alan Handyside via the Wellcome Collection. Depicts a human egg soon after fertilisation, with the two parental pronuclei clearly visible.
News
14 August 2020 • 2 minutes read

Relationship status and BMI used to determine access to IVF

by Martha Roberts

Relationship status and body mass index (BMI), are being used to restrict people's access to NHS-funded fertility treatment...

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

« FILM: Sarah Norcross in conversation with Sally Cheshire

Data-Label The UK's Leading Supplier Of Medical Labels & Asset Labels

RetiringDentist.co.uk The UK's Leading M&A Company.

Find out how you can advertise here
easyfundraising
amazon

This month in BioNews

  • Popular
  • Recent
8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

FILM: 200 Years of Mendel – From Peas to Personalised Medicine

1 August 2022 • 4 minutes read

Women's Health Strategy plans reflect rising needs of same-sex female couples

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Was the Women's Health Strategy worth the wait?

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Why the UK should extend the 14-day rule to 28 days

25 July 2022 • 5 minutes read

200 Years of Mendel: From Peas to Personalised Medicine

8 August 2022 • 4 minutes read

Citizenship and same-sex parents – about time, Sweden!

8 August 2022 • 2 minutes read

FILM: 200 Years of Mendel – From Peas to Personalised Medicine

1 August 2022 • 4 minutes read

Women's Health Strategy plans reflect rising needs of same-sex female couples

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Was the Women's Health Strategy worth the wait?

25 July 2022 • 4 minutes read

Why the UK should extend the 14-day rule to 28 days

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856

Subscribe to BioNews and other PET updates for free.

Subscribe
PET PET

PET is an independent charity that improves choices for people affected by infertility and genetic conditions.

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • RSS
Wellcome
Website redevelopment supported by Wellcome.

Navigation

  • About Us
  • Get Involved
  • Donate
  • BioNews
  • Events
  • Engagement
  • Jobs & Opportunities
  • Contact Us

BioNews

  • News
  • Comment
  • Reviews
  • Elsewhere
  • Topics
  • Glossary
  • Newsletters

Other

  • My Account
  • Subscribe

Website by Impact Media Impact Media

  • Privacy Statement
  • Advertising Policy
  • Thanks and Acknowledgements

© 1992 - 2022 Progress Educational Trust. All rights reserved.

Limited company registered in England and Wales no 07405980 • Registered charity no 1139856