§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Health, pursuant to his holding answer of 8 December and his further holding answer of 1 March, when he expects to provide a substantive answer to the hon. Member for Tewkesbury. [84873]
§ Ms JowellThe Government has pledged to tackle unacceptable levels of geographical variations in access to National Health Service infertility treatment and has set in train a programme of work to achieve that aim.
A Department of Health survey of current health authority infertility service provision will take place shortly and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG) will complete their third, and final, set of evidence based clinical guidelines on infertility in the autumn.
The Department's survey will enable the cost implications of any policy changes to be estimated. It is important to wait for the RCOG guidelines to be completed and considered by the Department as they will indicate the circumstances in which infertility treatment can be most clinically effective.