Couples seeking IVF ‘face unfair postcode lottery’

Couples in London and the South East are being denied IVF treatment offered in other parts of the country because of a geographical lucky dip, a Conservative MP claims.

Caroline Dinenage, MP for Gosport in Hampshire, said a desperate unfair postcode lottery dictates who receives IVF on the NHS. The geographical discrepancies are stark, she said. A couple in the North East or East Anglia will find that they have access to IVF in line with or above the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidance.

But couples in the South East will find that they are only able to access one round of treatment.

Ms Dinenage wrote for the website Conservativehome on the topic. She claimed that men and women who were desperate to have a child were being forced to go private to gain fertility treatment. She called for the treatment to be standardised.

Peoples chances of having a child when they cant conceive naturally should not be down to a geographical lucky dip, she said. Access to a reasonable amount of IVF treatment should be universally available to those who need it.

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Couples seeking IVF 'face unfair postcode lottery'