FUNDING for fertility treatment for Southend patients could soon end.

The Southend Clinical Commissioning Group has launched a three month consultation on whether to continue funding specialist fertility services such as IVF, for patients in the borough.

Dr José Garcia Lobera, chairman of NHS Southend Clinical Commissioning Group, said the proposal would address increasing financial challenges.

He said; “The CCG has difficult decisions to make in order to address the significant financial challenges it is facing.

“When looking at the prioritisation of local NHS funds, our GPs and clinical leaders came to the difficult conclusion that specialist fertility treatment is an area we should review.

“These are expensive treatments and are often unsuccessful, with success rates between only 2 per cent and 32 per cent. There is a real need to consider the value of funding IVF at the current time compared with all other NHS treatments and services.”

Dr Lobera said savings had already been made in other areas of healthcare. He said: “We have already looked at a number of areas including our service restriction policy, orthopaedic services and gluten free food on prescription.

“We are now looking at other areas and are asking for the views of local people about the funding of IVF.”

Brentwood and Basildon Clinical Commissioning Group announced in November last year that fertility treatment would no longer be available,.

The decision was made despite 42 per cent of the 850 people who took part in a nine-week consultation insisting it should stay.

No new IVF treatment referrals will be available, while mothers who have already been referred for fertility treatment will only receive one NHS-funded IVF cycle, even though they were promised three at the outset.

Clinical commissioning groups say they have been forced to look at ways to save money, including stopping or imposing tighter restrictions on a number of treatments and procedures that are considered to have limited clinical value.

These changes will also have an impact on access to cosmetic surgery, gluten-free foods on NHS prescription, e-cigarettes and certain pain injections

The latest fertility treatment consultation was launched yesterday. Residents can either complete a survey or attend one of a number of local workshops.

Read more at http://www.essexlive.news/brentwood-and-basildon-ccg-to-stop-ivf-treatments-to-save-money/story-29942840-detail/story.html#Ps4kFxBWQPGlfFVw.99

Dr José Garcia Lobera, Chair of NHS Southend CCG, said; “The CCG has difficult decisions to make in order to address the significant financial challenges it is facing. When looking at the prioritisation of local NHS funds, our GPs and clinical leaders came to the difficult conclusion that specialist fertility treatment is an area we should review.

“These are expensive treatments and are often unsuccessful, with success rates between only 2% and 32%. There is a real need to consider the value of funding IVF at the current time compared with all other NHS treatments and services.

“We have already looked at a number of areas including our Service Restriction Policy, orthopaedic services and gluten free food on prescription. We are now looking at other areas and are asking for the views of local people about the funding of IVF.”

IVF became available on the NHS across the UK after 2005 when the Health Secretary at that time, John Reid, said women under 40 would be offered one IVF cycle. More recently, the commissioning of IVF services became the responsibility of Clinical Commissioning Groups. The number of patients using the services described in this consultation varies over time but there is an average of about 50 patients a year, with a cost to the CCG of approximately £200,000 per year.

Details can be found on Southend CCG’s website: www.southendccg.nhs.uk

ENDS