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IVF Treatment

Volume 454: debated on Wednesday 6 December 2006

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the total cost was to the NHS of IVF treatment in the last 12 months for which figures are available; whether she has any plans to restrict the availability of IVF treatments on the NHS; and if she will make a statement. (106962)

Information on the cost of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) to the national health service is not collected centrally. The primary responsibility for the provision of fertility services, and the implementation of the clinical guideline produced by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence in 2004, rests with the NHS at local level. We have no plans to ask primary care trusts (PCTs) to restrict the availability of IVF and we are working with the patient support organisation Infertility Network UK to help PCTs engage with fertility patients in the planning and prioritisation of services.