Fertility Fairness responds to Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG’s decision

Sarah Norcross, co-chair of campaign group Fertility Fairness and director of Progress Educational trust said: ‘Fertility patients in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough will be devastated to hear that the clinical commissioning group has decided to remove access to NHS IVF permanently – despite the Government’s warning that it is unacceptable to do so and that the IVF postcode lottery “blights patients’ lives and damages the NHS’ reputation”. Fertility Fairness’ data on access to NHS IVF in England, collected since 2013, illustrates the sustained disinvestment by CCGs in NHS fertility services. In the last two and half years alone, one in five CCGs (21%) have slashed services by cutting the number of IVF cycles they offer, decommissioning services or introducing arbitrary access criteria. The vast majority of CCGs – 88% – do not offer three NHS-funded IVF cycles for women under 40. Five CCGs do not offer any fertility treatment at all; 70% of CCGs offer just one cycle (this is often a partial rather than a full IVF cycle); 15% provide two IVF cycles and just 12% provide the recommended three IVF cycles.’

Gwenda Burns, acting co-chair of Fertility Fairness and head of charity operations, Fertility Network, said: ‘This is a cruel, unfair decision: infertility affects 3.5 million people and has a far-reaching impact: 90 per cent of people are depressed and 42 per cent feel suicidal. It is appalling that Cambridgeshire and Peterborough CCG is ignoring the devastation infertility wreaks and refusing to allow access to NHS treatment.’

You can read the full statement here.