NHS bosses have put on hold changes which would restrict access to IVF treatment in parts of Notts after they were branded a ‘postcode lottery’ .
Mansfield & Ashfield and Newark & Sherwood Clinical Commissioning Group first put forward the proposals in February.
They would see the eligible age range in all four areas for receiving free IVF treatment on the NHS considerably reduced, narrowing the age criteria from 18-42 years for women to 25-34 years.
They would also bring in an upper age limit of 40 for men.
But the group has now put the changes on hold after a committee chairman at Nottinghamshire County Council, which monitors NHS policy in Notts, criticised the move and branded it a ‘postcode lottery’ system.
Talks were first held in December 2016 to discuss plans to cut NHS IVF treatment across all four areas, as part of a series of cost-cutting measures to ease budget pressures, and a public consultation was launched.
Several options were reviewed, including changes to eligibility criteria for access to IVF treatment funded by the NHS, and withdrawing it altogether.
But the council’s Health Scrutiny Committee, said it would be unfair for prospective parents living in Mansfield, Ashfield, Newark and Sherwood with fertility problems to not be given the same opportunities to start families as others in the county.
Committee chairman Councillor Colleen Harwood said: “IVF is often often a last resort for couples facing the heartache of infertility, and it can give these couples the chance of achieving their dream of a family.
“Thirty-four is a low cut-off when many women spend their twenties and early thirties building their careers and saving to buy their own home.
“This means many women may already be past the cut-off age for IVF before they try to start a family and even realise they are struggling to have children.
“It’s not right that residents of Mansfield, Ashfield and Newark and Sherwood face a potential postcode lottery, where residents in other parts of Nottinghamshire and the country are offered IVF on the NHS at a higher age than them.”
The committee has recommended that the CCG consults fully on the specific change it is proposing and reconsiders its decision in light of the results, and requested that careful consideration of its recommendation is made at board level.
Dr Amanda Sullivan, chief officer for NHS Mansfield and Ashfield and Newark and Sherwood CCG said: “We have conducted a very thorough consultation and have listened to a very wide range of public views about fertility treatment on the NHS.
“In line with national guidance, we have carefully balanced a diversity of views with the clinical evidence concerning the effectiveness of IVF throughout childbearing years.
“We developed a compromise way forward, that included more access to IVF than two of the options we initially put forward.
“As such, the preferred option was put forward as a genuine way to find the right balance of views in the current financial environment for the NHS, drawn from consultation responses.
“We have taken this very seriously, but respect the committee’s views. We will be seeking further public input in due course.”
A spokesman for the Clinical Commissioning Group added plans were going to be implemented on April 1, but this is now on hold while the group reconsiders the issue.
