Some Ryedale couples will not get IVF treatment on NHS

Some Ryedale couples will not get IVF treatment on NHS

12:01pm Wednesday 13th August 2014 in Ryedale news By Karen Darley

COUPLES in some parts of Ryedale will not be able to get IVF treatment on the NHS this year after health bosses said they could not afford the service.

In a narrow vote, the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Groups Governing Body, which met on Thursday, decided to delay the commissioning of IVF services for 2014/15.

The decision will affect patients registered with GP practices in Helmsley, Pickering, Kirkbymoorside and Terrington.

Dr Tim Hughes, GP member of the Governing Body, said the group had made the decision with a heavy heart.

The commissioning of IVF services carries a great element of financial risk for the CCG and with prevalence data highlighting that approximately 110 couples a year will come forward for IVF treatment, the cost pressure could be as much as 2m per year, he said.

To put this into perspective, in a year, 2m equates to either two fully-staffed and operational hospital wards, 293 major hip replacements, treatment for more than 21,500 average attendances at accident and emergency departments or 43 qualified nurses employed full-time for a year.

Dr Hughes said the decision was just one of many tough choices that the Governing Body needed to make through an open and transparent decision process.

I must emphasise that this is a temporary position. The aspiration to meet National Institute for Clinical Excellence criteria and to commission IVF services for couples in the Vale of York still remains, he said.

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Some Ryedale couples will not get IVF treatment on NHS