What Does the NICE Fertility Guideline Update Mean for You?
This episode of the Progress Educational Trust (PET) podcast discusses the newly updated Fertility Guideline published by the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).The discussion is chaired by Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), with contributions from:⚫ Dr Raj Mathur (Member of the Guideline Committee that developed the newly updated Fertility Guideline)⚫ Professor Richard Anderson (Professor of Clinical Reproductive Science at the University of Edinburgh)⚫ Sarah Norcross (Director of PET), speaking on behalf of Sharon Martin (Interim Chief Executive of the charity Fertility Network UK)⚫ Katie Rollings (Founder and Chief Executive of the charity Fertility Action)⚫ Anya Sizer (Trustee at the charity Fertility Alliance)Like every version of the Fertility Guideline published by NICE since 2004, the newly updated Guideline recommends that the NHS should 'offer an initial three full cycles of IVF treatment' to any woman – under 40 years of age – who needs them. The updated Guideline also retains a robust definition of what constitutes a 'full' cycle of IVF.In addition to this, the updated Guideline adds a new recommendation that if a woman 'is under 40 years and has not conceived after three full cycles of IVF treatment', then commissioners and providers should 'consider up to three further full cycles of IVF treatment'.NICE's recommendation of three full NHS-funded cycles of IVF has been in place for more than 20 years, and yet has never been implemented across England. In fact, the latest data from the PET NHS Fertility Funding Tracker shows that the situation has been worsening.⚫ 40 out of 42 integrated care boards (ICBs) in England currently fail to comply with the Guideline.⚫ Of these 40 non-compliant ICBs, the majority – 29 – offer only one NHS-funded cycle of IVF, rather than the recommended three.⚫ The situation is made even worse by inconsistencies in the eligibility criteria that various ICBs impose upon prospective fertility patients.In its Renewed Women's Health Strategy for England, the UK Government says that within the next two years, it will 'assess current provision of NHS-commissioned fertility services as a baseline to inform supporting material for every ICB to implement the new NICE guidelines in full'.Meanwhile, a commitment made by the preceding Government in its original Women's Health Strategy for England – to ensure that 'Female same-sex couples are able to access NHS-funded fertility services in a more equitable way' – has been quietly dropped from the Renewed Strategy. In light of all this, will the new update to the Guideline make a difference?In this podcast, leading patient advocates and fertility professionals – including a member of the Committee that developed the updated Guideline – discuss what the update means for them, and for you.PET is grateful to Merck for supporting this discussion.PET is also grateful to Jon Nicoll, who created the opening and closing music for its podcast.Register at https://www.progress.org.uk/events/upcoming-events/ for upcoming PET events.
