£1m cost of IVF care as NHS ban is lifted

Bosses at NHS Scarborough and Ryedale Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) yesterday agreed to provide one free cycle of fertility treatment to couples.

The district is one of only a handful in the country to have a bar on IVF care imposed in 2006 due to a NHS financial crisis in North Yorkshire.

But officials estimate annual costs could run to £331,000 for three years due to a backlog in demand and total £1.2m over five years to treat 400 women.

Carrie Wollerton, executive nurse for the CCG, said it was “a really positive step forward”.

She added: “Our main aim as the local leader of the NHS is, where possible, to improve access to treatments and reduce variation in services compared with other parts of the country.

“Once implemented, we will monitor demand for IVF treatment and seek to review our policy, in light of our financial position, in 12 months.”

Women aged between 18 and under 43 at the time of treatment will be eligible for IVF providing their body mass index is between 18 and 35 and both partners are childless and have not smoked for at least six months prior to referral. Couples who have previously paid for treatment will be eligible provided they have not had three or more failed attempts.

IVF is now available across Yorkshire but significant differences remain. In Bassetlaw and North East Lincolnshire and in some cases in Hull, three cycles are available in line with national guidance. Two cycles are provided in Hambleton, Richmondshire and Whitby, Doncaster, Barnsley and Rotherham, but only one in West Yorkshire, Sheffield, the East Riding, Harrogate, the Vale of York and North Lincolnshire.