In July this year, the UK Government unveiled plans to improve fertility treatment access, publishing the Women's Health Strategy (see BioNews 1152).
The report promised 'greater transparency' around the IVF postcode lottery, however, Sarah Norcross, director of PET, said: 'What is extremely disappointing, however, is that there is no plan to end the postcode lottery which affects [same-sex couples] and all others seeking fertility treatment in England.'
Writing in LabourList, the Labour MP for Warrington North, Charlotte Nichols, discusses how the IVF postcode lottery needs addressing.
Nichols explains that it can cost up to £10,000 to fund one cycle of IVF privately, pricing out the opportunity to have a family for many people.
National guidelines in England state that couples should receive three rounds of IVF on the NHS. However, this level of service is available in fewer than one in five NHS commissioning groups in England.
