We have just been asked to promote this very worthwhile Support Group series of meetings....
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ADVERT
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Have you been trying to conceive for over 12 months without success?
North Yorkshire Infertility Support Group meets at:
Sovereign House (next to Jewsons), Kettlestring Lane, Clifton Moor, YORK. YO30 4GQ
This year’s informal support and information evenings will be held on:
• Thursday 12th March 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
• Thursday 18th June 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
• Thursday 17th September 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
• Thursday 10th December 2009 from 7pm to 9pm
At the beginning of each meeting an invited guest will talk to the group about a topic related to infertility.
So please come and join us. Take this opportunity to:
• Meet others in a similar position
• Look through our books and leaflets
• Share experiences
Tea and coffee will be available. Free parking!
For more details contact:
Sue Redshaw, Subfertility Nurse Counsellor for NHS North Yorkshire and York
on 07786 250721
Showing posts with label IVF. Show all posts
Showing posts with label IVF. Show all posts
Wednesday, 4 March 2009
Monday, 5 January 2009
Some great news (for us at least)
As we couldn't get funding for IVF via our local PCT, we decided to fund a course out of our own pockets and it worked first time! We are over the moon!!! On top of that, we have been fortunate enough to conceive twins. Yes - after all the heartache that 2008 brought us, 2009 looks set to be a much, much better year! We are due at the end of June.
We will be keeping this blog running and will update it as and when we hear any more news from North Yorkshire and York PCT with regards to any changes in their stance on their provision of the service and we both hope that anyone else finding themselves in similar circumstances to us are as fortunate as us!
It is such a shame that North Yorkshire and York PCT continue to refuse to accept that they have a duty to provide this treatment to ALL couples without their petty restrictions. I hope that some day soon they will finally follow almost every other PCT in England and provide at least one course of treatment on the NHS. By the way 'NHS' is an acronym for NATIONAL Health Service...
We will be keeping this blog running and will update it as and when we hear any more news from North Yorkshire and York PCT with regards to any changes in their stance on their provision of the service and we both hope that anyone else finding themselves in similar circumstances to us are as fortunate as us!
It is such a shame that North Yorkshire and York PCT continue to refuse to accept that they have a duty to provide this treatment to ALL couples without their petty restrictions. I hope that some day soon they will finally follow almost every other PCT in England and provide at least one course of treatment on the NHS. By the way 'NHS' is an acronym for NATIONAL Health Service...
Friday, 12 September 2008
No news is bad news
It is over two weeks since we emailed every member of North Yorkshire and York PCT's Clinical Leadership Programme with details of our situation and giving them the list of comments left on our petition.
Not one person, not a single solitary person had the good grace to reply to us, to give us feedback on the current situation.
It is one thing being in this dreadful position in the first place, but it is another thing entirely for every member of the team charged with running our PCT to completely ignore us.
It sums up just what these people think about dealing with the public they are paid to serve.
Not one person, not a single solitary person had the good grace to reply to us, to give us feedback on the current situation.
It is one thing being in this dreadful position in the first place, but it is another thing entirely for every member of the team charged with running our PCT to completely ignore us.
It sums up just what these people think about dealing with the public they are paid to serve.
Thursday, 4 September 2008
The report of shame
I have just come across this interesting report (you can download the full report at the bottom of the article) - it was completed on 23 June 2008 and shows just what IVF provision each of the nation's PCTs offers. It seems that us in the North Yorkshire and York PCT area really are the poor relations when it comes to the provision.
We really do not see how our PCT can sit back and do nothing - surely they must feel ashamed that almost every other PCT across England offers at least one cycle of treatment.
In fact, the exact wording of their statement shows that the treatment they may offer is even more restrictive than they have led us to believe - they say they have a 'financial contingency for patients on waiting list reaching age 39 who are deemed exceptional'. So - they told us they will treat women between 39.5 years old and their 40th birthday OR in exceptional circumstances when, in fact, they MAY treat them if they decide the circumstances are acceptable.
So the tiny crack in their creaking window has been pushed shut even more.
North Yorkshire and York PCT - you should be ashamed of your inaction.
We really do not see how our PCT can sit back and do nothing - surely they must feel ashamed that almost every other PCT across England offers at least one cycle of treatment.
In fact, the exact wording of their statement shows that the treatment they may offer is even more restrictive than they have led us to believe - they say they have a 'financial contingency for patients on waiting list reaching age 39 who are deemed exceptional'. So - they told us they will treat women between 39.5 years old and their 40th birthday OR in exceptional circumstances when, in fact, they MAY treat them if they decide the circumstances are acceptable.
So the tiny crack in their creaking window has been pushed shut even more.
North Yorkshire and York PCT - you should be ashamed of your inaction.
Wednesday, 6 August 2008
An update
Well perhaps not the news we had been hoping for, but as a result of the last round of tests, Professor Balen has decided that the best course of action to take is IVF with ICSI. So now, more than ever, we will be feeling the full impact of North Yorkshire and York PCT's decision to not fund IVF.
The minimum charge for a single course we have found so far is £3,320, and prices can go up to an incredible £10,000. For a single attempt.
We wonder if they actually care that every resident of their district has to find the funds to privately proceed with treatment?
We wonder if they care that just 12 miles away, residents in West Yorkshire can get assistance with the costs?
We wonder if our tax and national insurance contributions are being distributed fairly so that they can be used to treat other people but not us?
We wonder if the 'postcode lottery' is alive and kicking?
Yes it is - and it's kicking us in the teeth, and the administrator's of our PCT sit there and continue to have the audacity to state that they do provide IVF as their ruling 'does not apply in some cases of exceptional clinical need'.
So if my wife was in the six month window between 39.5yrs and 40yrs old or had a terminal disease, we may be eligible, otherwise we have to remain one of the 5% of the entire UK that does not have access to NHS-funded IVF treatment.
Can you stop kicking us in the teeth now please?
The minimum charge for a single course we have found so far is £3,320, and prices can go up to an incredible £10,000. For a single attempt.
We wonder if they actually care that every resident of their district has to find the funds to privately proceed with treatment?
We wonder if they care that just 12 miles away, residents in West Yorkshire can get assistance with the costs?
We wonder if our tax and national insurance contributions are being distributed fairly so that they can be used to treat other people but not us?
We wonder if the 'postcode lottery' is alive and kicking?
Yes it is - and it's kicking us in the teeth, and the administrator's of our PCT sit there and continue to have the audacity to state that they do provide IVF as their ruling 'does not apply in some cases of exceptional clinical need'.
So if my wife was in the six month window between 39.5yrs and 40yrs old or had a terminal disease, we may be eligible, otherwise we have to remain one of the 5% of the entire UK that does not have access to NHS-funded IVF treatment.
Can you stop kicking us in the teeth now please?
Friday, 1 August 2008
A response in the Harrogate Advertiser
The Harrogate Advertiser has run a letter in response to the article they ran last week. It is a very well argued point and really shows the PCT's decision as being ill thought out. No doubt the PCT will do all they can to avoid providing this vital service although they keep trotting out the line that 'women in real need will be given treatment'. It strikes me that they have not grasped the concept that any couple struggling to conceive ARE in real need.
Monday, 28 July 2008
Still they know how to spend money...
Well bless 'em. The PCT can't afford to provide IVF treatment as recommended by the Government and which 95% of the UK has free access to, but they can afford to build a new hospital car park at a cost of some £5.2 million (which equates to around 1,300 courses of IVF). Of course car parks are very important. They really help patients get better, help cure their illnesses, help research into new breakthroughs in medicine. But I don't suppose that matters when they aren't actually providing a Health Service, just a revenue-generating car park.
No doubt they will argue that it is being funded by York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, not North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (still with us), even though it was York's hospitals that caused in part the huge (£24 million) budget deficit that resulted in IVF treatment being withdrawn.
Smoke and mirrors, being wafted and angled by some self-serving bureaucrats it seems.
No doubt they will argue that it is being funded by York Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, not North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (still with us), even though it was York's hospitals that caused in part the huge (£24 million) budget deficit that resulted in IVF treatment being withdrawn.
Smoke and mirrors, being wafted and angled by some self-serving bureaucrats it seems.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Our campaign in the news
As mentioned in a previous post, we spoke to the Harrogate Advertiser regarding North Yorkshire PCT's position on providing assisted fertility treatment. We were very pleased to see this article in the newspaper - and on the front, at the top, in big bold type! Hopefully it will get our campaign really going and get a few more people leaving their views on our petition. So if you haven't left a message yet please do so now.
The one thing that made us smile (we have to keep smiling) was the official line from North Yorkshire PCT that 'the policy did not apply in some cases of exceptional clinical need'. So - as long as the female partner is aged between 39 years 6 months and 40 years old, she will be allowed one course of IVF, even though the average chances of success are just 10% at that age (compared to 25% at my wife's age now) or if she has exceptional clinical circumstances. The one example we were given of exceptional clinical circumstances were 'if the woman has a terminal illness which meant she would be dead before she reached the age requirement'. This is simply madness - North Yorkshire PCT are prepared to help bring a child into the world when they know the mother has a low life expectancy, but they are not prepared to help when both the parents are young, fit, healthy and wanting to raise a family together.
Priorities? The only priorities North Yorkshire PCT appear to have are to remove the little red lines on their balance sheet, not to actually help people in need, to follow Government and NICE guidelines on provision of treatment or to consider a thoughtful and sensible approach to providing the services that 95% of the UK has free access to.
The one thing that made us smile (we have to keep smiling) was the official line from North Yorkshire PCT that 'the policy did not apply in some cases of exceptional clinical need'. So - as long as the female partner is aged between 39 years 6 months and 40 years old, she will be allowed one course of IVF, even though the average chances of success are just 10% at that age (compared to 25% at my wife's age now) or if she has exceptional clinical circumstances. The one example we were given of exceptional clinical circumstances were 'if the woman has a terminal illness which meant she would be dead before she reached the age requirement'. This is simply madness - North Yorkshire PCT are prepared to help bring a child into the world when they know the mother has a low life expectancy, but they are not prepared to help when both the parents are young, fit, healthy and wanting to raise a family together.
Priorities? The only priorities North Yorkshire PCT appear to have are to remove the little red lines on their balance sheet, not to actually help people in need, to follow Government and NICE guidelines on provision of treatment or to consider a thoughtful and sensible approach to providing the services that 95% of the UK has free access to.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Professor Edwards (the pioneer of IVF treatment) on the provison of IVF by the NHS
"Every couple should be allowed to have three babies on the health service because this is the greatest gift that you can give any man or woman."
That says it all doesn't it?
That says it all doesn't it?
IVF on BBC Breakfast News
We are clearly more conscious of it at the moment, but IVF news seems to be eveywhere. Just this morning I switched on the television to be greeted with a piece regarding IVF treatment in the UK.
They were concerning themselves with the fact that 30 years after Louise Brown, the first 'test tube baby' (the common term for IVF, given because the egg is fertilised in a test tube) was born and how the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in the provision of treatment. They were discussing how it seems amazing that the country that pioneered the treatment cannot provide a clear and unambiguous policy on the provision across the country's 105 Trusts. In some areas (nine in total) patients can get treatement that follows Government and NICE guidelines (three courses of IVF). In many others patients can get one or two courses, some with restictions on eligibility such as insisting that one or both partners are non-smokers or that the female partner should be under 35 years old. Others insist the female partner must be OVER 36 years old.
It is utter madness - insist the female should be over 36 years old before she is allowed the treatment - the time of her life when she is becoming, statistically, much less likely to actually succeed wih treatment.
Let's hope that the media attention will make North Yorkshire PCT, along with the other four PCTs that do not provide the service, to sit up and take notice.
I can't say I am holding out much hope though.
They were concerning themselves with the fact that 30 years after Louise Brown, the first 'test tube baby' (the common term for IVF, given because the egg is fertilised in a test tube) was born and how the UK lags behind the rest of Europe in the provision of treatment. They were discussing how it seems amazing that the country that pioneered the treatment cannot provide a clear and unambiguous policy on the provision across the country's 105 Trusts. In some areas (nine in total) patients can get treatement that follows Government and NICE guidelines (three courses of IVF). In many others patients can get one or two courses, some with restictions on eligibility such as insisting that one or both partners are non-smokers or that the female partner should be under 35 years old. Others insist the female partner must be OVER 36 years old.
It is utter madness - insist the female should be over 36 years old before she is allowed the treatment - the time of her life when she is becoming, statistically, much less likely to actually succeed wih treatment.
Let's hope that the media attention will make North Yorkshire PCT, along with the other four PCTs that do not provide the service, to sit up and take notice.
I can't say I am holding out much hope though.
Friday, 11 July 2008
What are we doing to help ourselves?
We know that we can't just sit back and expect things to be handed to us on a plate. Since we started trying for a family we have altered our lifestyle in the hope that we conceive naturally. We have changed out diets (more fresh fruit and vegetables - all organic) and cut out alcohol completely. For my wife it was easy as she doesn't drink regularly, but for me it was a bit of a shock to the system as I do enjoy my regular nights out both socialising with mutual friends and with 'the lads'. I have also started taking regular vitamin supplements like zinc and vitamin C - something I have always been cynical of in the past as I believe we all get the vitamins we need in a balanced diet - but at this stage I feel we have to be open-minded about anything that may help us achieve our goal and improve the results of our final test due later this month. I will write a post after we get them to let everyone know if all our changes have made any difference.
Our first thoughts...
My wife and I are trying for a baby. Insofar we have been unsuccessful and have enquired about assisted fertility treatment in case we find that we need outside help to conceive. After an initial consultation with Professor Balen at Leeds Nuffield Hospital we have found out that North Yorkshire PCT will not provide funding for any form of assisted conception.
We have since contacted Jill Fox and Sue Redshaw, both who work for North Yorkshire PCT, and they have confirmed that due to budget deficits, they do not give help to couples who, like us, are struggling to conceive. This is in spite of Government and NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidelines stating that at least one course of IVF should be provided via the NHS (the ideal being three courses).
Jill Fox did advise that the PCT will be reviewing their position in the autumn of 2008. Should they decide that they will start supporting treatment again, it will only open up the existing waiting list (some people have been waiting for two years since the service was suspended). Anyone requiring treatment in those last two years will only be able to join the back of that existing list. She wouldn't say how long they estimated the list to be if and when it is re-opened.
On Monday I am going to see our local MP, Phil Willis (Lib Dems) to discuss the matter and I shall post up once we have spoken.
I will also be posting as the weeks and months pass with details of our progress.
We have since contacted Jill Fox and Sue Redshaw, both who work for North Yorkshire PCT, and they have confirmed that due to budget deficits, they do not give help to couples who, like us, are struggling to conceive. This is in spite of Government and NICE (National Institute for Clinical Excellence) guidelines stating that at least one course of IVF should be provided via the NHS (the ideal being three courses).
Jill Fox did advise that the PCT will be reviewing their position in the autumn of 2008. Should they decide that they will start supporting treatment again, it will only open up the existing waiting list (some people have been waiting for two years since the service was suspended). Anyone requiring treatment in those last two years will only be able to join the back of that existing list. She wouldn't say how long they estimated the list to be if and when it is re-opened.
On Monday I am going to see our local MP, Phil Willis (Lib Dems) to discuss the matter and I shall post up once we have spoken.
I will also be posting as the weeks and months pass with details of our progress.
Our petition to North Yorkshire PCT to fund IVF
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INSTRUCTIONS
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Click on the 'Comment' link at the bottom of this page to register on our petition - we shall pass the results on to North Yorkshire PCT.
Please feel free to post any comments, experiences and thoughts along with your name and home town if you wish.
Remember that the decision by North Yorkshire PCT was a purely financial one. 95% of the UK are able to receive assisted fertility treatment on the NHS. An official recommendation was made by the Government that it should be provided and this was backed up by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Yet North Yorkshire PCT remains one of four PCTs that refuse to offer the service unless the patient meets a very strict criteria - the female must be between 39 years 6 months and 40 years old or have 'exceptional clinical circumstances'.
INSTRUCTIONS
***************
Click on the 'Comment' link at the bottom of this page to register on our petition - we shall pass the results on to North Yorkshire PCT.
Please feel free to post any comments, experiences and thoughts along with your name and home town if you wish.
Remember that the decision by North Yorkshire PCT was a purely financial one. 95% of the UK are able to receive assisted fertility treatment on the NHS. An official recommendation was made by the Government that it should be provided and this was backed up by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence. Yet North Yorkshire PCT remains one of four PCTs that refuse to offer the service unless the patient meets a very strict criteria - the female must be between 39 years 6 months and 40 years old or have 'exceptional clinical circumstances'.
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