MORE than 30,000 people have signed a petition calling for Government action to end the ‘IVF postcode lottery’.

Decisions on the provision of local health services, including fertility treatmemt, are made by independent local Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs), based on the clinical needs of the local population.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care and its fertility guidelines set out how infertility treatment can be offered in the most clinically and cost-effective way.

NHS England has oversight of the whole commissioning system and has stated that it expects all those involved in commissioning infertility treatment services to be fully aware of the importance of the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guidelines.

A Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “Patients should have fair and equal access to NHS fertility treatment when they need it, no matter where they live.

“While many areas are making progress, it is unacceptable for any local Clinical Commissioning Groups not to offer routine access to fertility services and we expect them to fully implement NICE guidelines.

“The Department of Health and Social Care has been undertaking a review of NHS fertility services to consider ways in which the current situation can be addressed. Ministers are expected to be presented with the results of this review later in the Spring.”

Fight for IVF campaigner Amber Izzo said: “England’s IVF postcode lottery is a cruel and unjust system, denying many people access to specialist fertility treatment based on where they live.

“In England currently, more than 80 per cent of CCGs fail to follow the NICE guidelines which state women under 40 who have been trying to conceive for 12 months or more should be entitled to three full cycles of IVF treatment.

“The NICE quality standards also state that existing children from previous relationships should not hinder their access.

“Unfortunately across the country, we see a pattern of this not being adhered to. In many cases, funding IVF costs less than 0.01 per cent of a CCG’s budget, and yet cost is often the argument used to make these cuts.

“We have worked closely with Klara to try and get her CCGs judgement overturned and we are pleased to see Dehenna Davison actively helping her constituents with regards to this matter and her efforts to pen a cross-party letter following on from Cambridgeshire and Peterborough’s success in doing so.

“We are absolutely behind Klara and are pleased that the generosity of others have allowed her and Craig to try and expand their family privately, but saddened that this has to be the case.

“We are continuing to work extremely hard to campaign against the unjust system in the UK; when one in six couples suffer with infertility, leading to 42 per cent of them feeling suicidal, accessing medical treatment should not be this hard.”

Supporters can sign the petition online at thepetitionsite.com/en-gb/259/042/845/demand-an-end-to-the-ivf-postcode-lottery/