IVF 'should be higher priority for the NHS'

The NHS should spend more money on helping infertile couples in a bid to stamp out the IVF postcode lottery, government advisers said today.

The effects of infertility on mental health should be considered when funds are allocated, according to a panel set up to look at access to fertility treatment.

Evidence of links between inability to conceive and depression, stress and relationship breakdown mean IVF treatment should be given higher priority by primary care trusts, it said.

The first proposals from the influential Expert Group on Commissioning NHS Infertility Provision, convened by health ministers this year, add to the pressure on all NHS trusts to offer three full cycles of IVF to couples. That is the number recommended by the National Institute of Clinical Excellence (NICE), but only five per cent of PCTs currently achieve it.

Up to one in seven couples are unable to conceive naturally. Nearly 45,000 cycles of IVF are performed in Britain each year.

Lack of NHS provision has pushed three quarters of childless couples into the private sector, where each IVF cycle costs on average £2,000.

Today's report said: "Infertility treatment has not been seen as a traditional NHS service and, therefore, is often viewed as a relatively low priority. The group's final report will seek to consider-the often unseen consequences of infertilityincluding the impact on mental health and general wellbeing, which may draw on other NHS services for treatment."

Four years ago health watchdog NICE recommended that PCTs provide three full IVF cycles to women aged between 23 and 39.

But a government survey in June this year found just nine out of 151 PCTs in England offer this and many do not offer full cycles, which include the replacement of frozen embryos should a couple fail to conceive with fresh ones.

Today experts also warned that commissioning managers had a "lack of understanding of infertility and its treatment".

Health minister Dawn Primarolo is expected to write to all PCTs, making clear that the NHS should provide full IVF cycles, which can significantly improve the chances of conception.

Many trusts have delayed offering three cycles in the hope that NICE would reassess its policy later this year. But Ms Primarolo will confirm that NICE will not review its guidelines until 2010-11.

The panel also suggested that a fixed price to be paid by PCTs should be set for IVF to help managers plan their spending.