HC Deb 05 December 1994 vol 251 cc91-2W
Mr. Ainger

To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans she has to ensure that all purchasing health authorities contract with providers for a comprehensive infertility investigation and treatment service.

Mr. Sackville

The national health service provides a range of treatments for subfertility. Decisions about the resources to be made available for these services must be left to individual health authorities as they are in the best position to determine priorities in the light of local needs and circumstances. Advice is available to health authorities and clinicians in two publications drawn to the attention of the NHS in 1992; these are the "Effective Health Care Bulletin" on management of subfertility, published for the NHS management executive by a consortium of Leeds and York universities and the research unit of the Royal College of Physicians, and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists publication "Infertility—Guidelines For Practice".

Copies of the publications are available in the Library.