Thursday 8 April 2010

A response from the PCT

We have contacted the PCT to comment on the delay in provision of IVF from April as promised and have had this rather ambiguous response.

We do appreciate that the provision of IVF is an emotive subject and in order to ensure that everyone across the whole of Yorkshire and Humber region has equity of access, we have been working with other NHS organisations as part of the region-wide Specialised Commissioning Group to establish a minimum standard that patients can expect wherever they live within the region.

We had hoped that the change would take effect from April 2010 but in order to ensure a consistent approach across Yorkshire and the Humber, the view is that it is likely to come into effect from July 2010.

We appreciate that this delay will be disappointing for some; however it is vital that we use this opportunity to finally establish a fair and equitable approach to the commissioning of IVF services.

If you have any further queries, please contact PALS on 0800 068 8000.


We don't really believe that any changes will come into effect in July - after all they are very good at not keeping to promises and seem happy to continue to ignore all Government and NICE guidelines on IVF provision. It is also somewhat ironic that they cite 'equity' as a reason to delay the provision after some three years of inequity with the vast majority of PCTs across the country. But, as excuses go, it is one.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It beggars belief. I can't believe they can do this. What gives them the right to raise people's hopes if they have no intention of seeing it through? My GP referred me on 1 April as directed and now just days later funding has been pulled indefinitely.

Anonymous said...

I/we have just finished our first cycle of IVF which was funded by ourselves after months and months of saving. Unfortunately it was not a success and we had hoped that we could try again with funding from the PCT. Not only are we suffering with a negative result from this cycle but we are now having to cope with the fact that we are not going to be getting a funded cycle anytime soon. My doctor had also written a referral for an IVF cycle for the 1st April a waste also of her precious time. How long can this go on. This is people's hopes and dreams that are continuously being raised and dashed, surely something has to happen soon. If this was another matter which was breaking NICE Guidelines I am sure it would have appeared in the National Headlines and raised by government by now.

Anonymous said...

I'm coming into this as sort of a newbie, I haven't been following this debate for long but reading your response from the PCT it seems pretty clear that they're trying to make sure that the whole North Yorks PCT region gets the same access to IVF of the same quality at the same time. North Yorks PCT covers a massive area and deals with a large number of hospital trusts so its fair to say it will be a complex task. Maybe I'm naive but I believe they're trying to implement it and wouldn't be surprised if they come through in July.

That said I agree with all your sentiments about it being a crying shame that IVF isn't offered on the NHS in our area and the sooner it comes in the better.

As for the comment about hitting the headlines for not following NICE guidance: I have a medical background and can tell you with certainty that NICE guidance is precisely that - guidance - individual practitioners and organisations don't have to follow it and many don't - There are countless examples of it. Part of the problem is NICE's dubious reputation for being in the pocket of drug companies, etc - This isn't completely unfounded unfortunately.

North Yorks PCT is skint and has been for years, unfortunately IVF, given that it is never an emergency, is one of the things that suffers in this situation.

Anonymous said...

My husband and I have been trying to conceive for a while no a due to problems on both sides need IVF, It is an utter disgrace that there is a postcode lottery, we, as wer a lot of other people, where told we would be referred in April, but this never happened, we went back to our gynae on 8th June and we're told our referral letter will be sent on 1st July as "apparently" this is when the funding will start...hmmmm i will believe it when i see it!

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