More consistency over IVF
From: Dr Richard Turner, Duchy Road, Harrogate.
PURELY from the financial point of view it should be noted that most women who require infertility treatment have virtually no chance of conceiving naturally, so making them wait until they are almost 40 will only defer expenditure, not remove the need for it.
The chances of success are also lower at this age, so more money will be spent to no avail, and more couples will be denied the chance of having children of their own altogether which will increase the strain on their relationship with all the financial consequences which this can cause.
Secondly, it is very unfair just to introduce a policy such as this without warning since couples who were entitled to rely on the NHS in their time of need will have no insurance or money put aside just in case they had fertility problems.
If the NHS gave notice that in five or 10 years time it would not provide an adequate infertility service then more parents would take out insurance for their children just as many do in relation to educational needs.
Such policies would be relatively inexpensive because the risk of infertility is very low.
We really do need some national guidelines on what the NHS will, and will not, fund rather than having individual PCTS introducing arbritary restrictions on a day to day basis.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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