IVF postcode lottery must end

Commenting on the news that the waiting list for IVF treatment for Lanarkshire based patients has more than doubled in the last year, and is twice the wait faced by those based in Glasgow and Clyde being treated at the same unit, Central Scotland MSP Linda Fabiani called for an immediate end to the postcode lottery for infertility treatment in Scotland.

Lanarkshire based patients who have contacted Glasgow Royal Infirmary to find out when their treatment will start have been told the waiting list is now around 26 months. In April 2005 the figure was 11 months1.

Commenting, Ms Fabiani said:

“This is a completely unacceptable situation where the people of Lanarkshire are facing massive increases in waiting times for IVF treatment compared with other areas, and are not even being kept properly informed of the additional time they are having to wait.

People who are waiting for infertility treatment are facing a stressful enough time without the disappointment and frustration of even lengthier delays, and we need to ensure that there is equal access to available services regardless of where you live. It is time the government ended this geographical discrimination.

I have written to Lanarkshire Health Board for an explanation of why the waiting times have increased so dramatically this year, and what steps are being taken to improve the situation.

The government committed itself to improving equality of access to infertility treatment in 2005, after it became clear that the published guidance was not always being followed and provision varied from board to board.

Yet it has still not published the outcome of the consultation on this issue, over a year after it was completed.

It is time for less talking and more urgent action to end the postcode lottery and give everyone in Scotland equal access to infertility treatment“