Infertility Network UK leads the National Infertiilty Awareness Campaign (NIAC) which works on behalf of infertility patients throughout the UK to end the postcode lottery and replace this with a fair and equitable infertility service for every patient irrespective of where they live. NIAC is undertaking a patient survey with the aim of building a picture of the problems people encounter in accessing NHS treatment which can then be used to ensure patient experiences are highlighted and help us in our fight for better NHS funding.
The NICE Fertility Guidance issued in 2004 which was based on clinical effectiveness as well as cost effectiveness, recommended that eligible couples in England and Wales, where the woman is aged between 23 and 39, should receive 3 full cycles of treatment. Over the last few years we have seen a gradual improvement in the provision of treatment by many Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England, however we know that some still refuse to fund treatment, or provide only 1 cycle with others implementing restrictive access criteria. This is totally unfair on patients - after all, access to treatment should not be dependent upon a patient's postcode!
We hope as many patients as possible will complete the survey which only takes a few minutes to complete online at: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/QL8DV76
The more patients who complete the survey, the better enable we will be to build up an accurate picutre of the problems being encountered.
Infertility Network UK
Charter House
43 St Leonards Road
Bexhill on Sea
East Sussex
TN40 1JA
Telephone: 0800 008 7464
