HC Deb 18 May 1994 vol 243 c518W
Mr. Burden

To ask the Secretary of State for Health (1) how many health authorities purchase IVF treatment;

(2) what plans she has to ensure that those health authorities which are currently not purchasing IVF treatment are able to offer the same service to patients as those health authorities which have decided to purchase IVF treatment.

Mr. Sackville

Information on the number of health authorities that provide IVF treatment is not available centrally.

The national health service provides a wide range of treatments for sub-fertility. 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 national health service in 1992:

  1. (a) 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.
  2. (b) The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists publication "Infertility—Guidelines for Practice".

Copies of these publications are available in the Library.