Implementation of the NICE guideline - recommendations from the British Fertility Society for national criteria for NHS funding of assisted conception.

Assisted conception providers in England were surveyed to establish the uptake of NICE guideline for infertility particularly in respect of assisted conception and the criteria used to accept patients for NHS funded treatment. Detailed information on selection criteria was obtained from a group of commissioning consortia at an advanced stage in their arrangements. While there was an overall increase in the number of NHS IVF cycles purchased in England, implementation is stalled at one fresh cycle in the vast majority of Primary Care Trusts (PCTs). There is little consensus about the criteria used for acceptance into an NHS programme. This is particularly so in respect of social criteria which are often arbitrary and used as a rationing tool. This information complements that provided by the survey of Primary Care Trusts performed in March 2005 by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Infertility (APPGI) in partnership with the National Infertility Awareness Campaign (NIAC) which together provide a basis for recommendations for NHS funding. The recommendations presented should be applied across England and Wales to ensure consistency, fairness and equity of access.