FIFTY couples have been put on a fast-track for fertility treatment thanks to an £80,000 gift from primary care groups (PCGs) in County Durham.

The money, allocated by the Dales, Darlington, Sedgefield, Durham and Chester-le-Street and Derwentside PCGs, means that couples who have waited for years to try for their own baby can be seen immediately.

Presently, would-be parents in County Durham can wait for more than four years to see a specialist.

Some couples wait for so long they risk reaching the cut-off age for treatment, but the only alternative is to go to a private clinic which can cost thousands of pounds.

Guidelines from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence are due next summer and are expected to recommend that couples should be seen within two years, wherever they live.

The PCGs are stepping in now with a one-off payment but will try to find more cash next year.

Priority will go to the couples who have waited the longest and all 50 should be seen between now and the end of March at Newcastle's Centre for Life. In addition, South Durham Health Care NHS Trust has funding in its budget for another 16 couples to be offered treatment.

Each cycle of treatment costs £1,600 and each couple will be offered two chances.

Sarah Holdsworth, commissioning manager for the Dales, Darlington and Sedgefield PCGs, said: "We see this as an important service in our list of priorities.

"We have a lot of demands on money, but it was felt that this is important enough to allocate money from our own budgets.

"The PCGs consider the present waiting times to be too long. If a couple had two goes they could be waiting for as long as eight years."

Nicola Lowther, of the support group South West Durham Infertility Needs Group, (Swing) said: "This is fantastic news - long awaited but excellent.

"If you are on the waiting list, it is the most important thing in the world for you. It is a one-off payment and we hope it continues so that the full demand can be met."