Fertility treatment blow for women in Worcestershire.

WOMEN in Worcestershire will still not receive the recommended amount of paid for fertility treatment, despite warnings from a national health institute.

Yesterday, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) warned that fewer than one in five commissioning groups are paying for the full number of IVF cycles recommended.

Current Nice guidelines say the NHS should provide three full cycles of IVF treatment for women aged under 40 who have failed to get pregnant after two years of trying, or 12 cycles of artificial insemination.

Women aged 40 to 42 should receive one full cycle if certain criteria are met.

Despite the review, Worcestershire Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCG) will continue to only fund two cycles of treatment.

A spokesperson for the NHS South Worcestershire CCG, NHS Redditch and Bromsgrove CCG and NHS Wyre Forest CCG, said: Following the review of NICE fertility guidance and the new recommendations which followed, Worcestershire CCGs Clinical Commissioning Policy Collaborative reviewed its local policy for Infertility treatment. The financial implications of the updated guidance were modelled and the group considered all new aspects of the NICE guidance.

"In reviewing the infertility policy the intention was to ensure that Worcestershire CCGs commission on an equitable basis, achieving the best clinical outcomes for the greatest number of women in Worcestershire seeking fertility treatment, to ensure the most effective use of available resources.

As part of this process it was agreed by all three Worcestershire CCGs to offer two assisted conception treatment cycles to women aged under 40. The decision to fund a maximum of two cycles is based on the rationale that the chance of success declines with each attempt at assisted conception.

Further detail can be found by accessing the CCGs amended Commissioning Policy for Tertiary Treatment for Assisted Conception Services re-published in July 2014.

The review said that thousands of couples across the country trying to conceive are victims of a "postcode lottery".

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Fertility treatment blow for women in Worcestershire.