Help End Oxfordshire PCT's Discriminative Policies

RichardM123

End the postcode lottery for Oxfordshire residents when it comes to IVF funding and to ensure that current guidelines for IVF funding are adhered to by Oxfordshire PCT.

NICE clearly state in their guidelines for fertility;

“Couples in which the woman is aged 23–39 years at the time of treatment and who have an identified cause for their fertility problems (such as azoospermia or bilateral tubal occlusion) or who have infertility of at least 3 years’ duration should be offered up to three stimulated cycles of in vitro fertilization treatment.”

Unfortunately, many PCT’s do not adhere to this, leaving many couples facing a tough financial commitment or the bleak possibility of having to wait until they are old enough to meet the PCT’s criteria. Whereas some PCT’s do not offer funding for treatment at all.

Please note: Waiting for treatment reduces a women’s fertility rate.

It seems that funding for IVF is not given on the basis of fairness, but on where you live.

For example, if you are in Coventry, your local PCT will follow nice guidelines, however in Oxford your PCT use their own rules making you wait until 35 years old. At this age success per cycle drops to only 23.6% (HFEA 2006).

This discrimination is unacceptable as National Health Insurance is not dependant on where you live, so why should healthcare be?

Former Secretary of State for Health, Dr John Reid, said that he wanted “all PCTs, including those who at present provide no IVF treatment, to offer at least one full cycle of treatment to all those eligible. In the longer term I would expect the NHS to make progress towards full implementation of the Nice guidance”. His deadline for this was April 2005, but little has changed.

All I am asking for is – End the postcode lottery for Oxfordshire residents when it comes to IVF funding and ensure that current guidelines for IVF funding are adhered to by Oxfordshire PCT.

Take Action Now!

Watch the video at - Links in signature line

Sign the petition at - Links in signature line

And send off a letter of protest to Oxfordshire PCT…

I have written a letter to protest Oxfordshire PCT's current policies regarding access to treatment for people that need IVF.

I want to get at least 100 of these letters sent out by 17th April 2009, so please let me know if you are sending one so that I can keep tabs of numbers

If you would like a copy to send I have pasted it at the bottom of this post.

Letters from those of you in Oxfordshire would have more impact; however letters from all over the country would raise awareness.

Please also forward your letter to your local MP, Prime Minister Brown and the local media such as the Oxford Mail and the Oxford Times. This is very important as having these guys onboard will make a massive impact.

The address of your MP is the same for everyone, you just need to make sure that you change their name.

[Your MP's Name]
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA

The address for Prime Minister Brown is;

Prime Minister Brown
10 Downing Street
London
SW1A 2AA

And the Oxford Mail and Oxford Times can be reached at;

Newsquest Oxfordshire
Osney Mead
Oxford
Oxfordshire
OX2 0EJ

Please, please, please get friends, family, collegues and whoever else you can think of to print this letter out and send it to Andrea Young the Oxfordshire PCT's Chief Executive.

I am just one voice, but will all you guys involed we really could make a change!

Here is the letter;

< --Start of letter-- >

[Your address 1]
[Your address 2]
[Your address 3]
[Postcode]

[Date]

Andrea Young
Chief Executive
Oxfordshire PCT
Jubilee House
5510 John Smith Drive
Oxford Business Park South
Cowley
Oxford
OX4 2LH

Re: Oxfordshire PCT’s policies in regards to IVF

Dear Andrea Young,

I am writing to you today to express my disappointment in Oxfordshire Primary Care Trusts current policies in not following the complete set of guidelines set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence in regard to IVF treatment offered to Oxfordshire Residents.

The NICE guidelines clearly state that;

“Couples in which the woman is aged 23–39 years at the time of treatment and who have an identified cause for their fertility problems (such as azoospermia or bilateral tubal occlusion) or who have infertility of at least 3 years’ duration should be offered up to three stimulated cycles of in vitro fertilization treatment.”

It is my belief that your current policies regarding access to treatment make a mockery of these guidelines and the NICE.

I call on you now to change Oxfordshire PCT’s policies with regards to funding IVF to bring them inline with NICE guidelines immediately. And will also call on my MP and the Government to make this mandatory not just for Oxfordshire PCT, but for all PCT’s in the United Kingdom.

Your organisations discriminative policies have no place in a modern society where everyone should be entitled to equality regardless of their place of residence, age, sex, marital and family status.

I look forward to hearing from you and to a resolution of this matter. I will follow this up with you after 14 days if I have not received a reply. Please contact me at the above address.

Yours sincerely

[Sign]


[Print Your Name]

Cc: [Your MP]
Prime Minister Brown
[Local Media such as Oxford Mail and Oxford Times]

< --End of letter-- >

Thanks in anticipation of all those willing to help.

Cheers.

LondonDiva

Nope - I'd rather if a trust was struggling for money that they prioritise spending on life saving treatment, district nursing etc. IVF if there are other more critical priorities should go to the bottom of the list.

Floss

I am not sure that this is actually moneysaving in the meaning of the site, i.e. saving consumers money.....

Perhaps it needs to be posted somewhere else, maybe in the Arms?

RichardM123

LondonDiva wrote: »

Nope - I'd rather if a trust was struggling for money that they prioritise spending on life saving treatment, district nursing etc. IVF if there are other more critical priorities should go to the bottom of the list.

But the treatment of infertility in not a low priority issue. For many women and men it is a natural need to raise a family. A lot of the 'life saving treatment' given in this country is given because of the lifestyles people lead. Why should these cases come before any others?

Infertility is not a lifestyle choice and if left untreated in many cases it can end up costing the NHS more in the long run.

RichardM123

Floss wrote: »

I am not sure that this is actually moneysaving in the meaning of the site, i.e. saving consumers money.....

Perhaps it needs to be posted somewhere else, maybe in the Arms?

Yeah maybe, but if people dont get funding, then they will have to become 'consumers' of treatment at private clinics.

If PCT's start following NICE guildelines then every infertile couple in the UK could be 'moneysavers'

Floss

As I do not wish to get into an exchange with posters whose differing views may offend some people who cannot concieve without IVF or other intervention, I think this is a discussion thread better placed in The Arms.

Former_MSE_Andrea

Hi

Richard, could you remove the links from your signature please?

I'm going to leave the thread on this board though.

Thanks!

Andrea

Oldernotwiser

I'm with London Diva; I don't even think that IVF should be available on the NHS at all. On that basis I'm against discrimination - nobody gets it.

nottslass_2

Oldernotwiser wrote: »

I'm with London Diva; I don't even think that IVF should be available on the NHS at all. On that basis I'm against discrimination - nobody gets it.

On that basis then then the nhs should only treat people who's illness is not preventable or caused by lifestyle !!!!

The nhs spends billions treating preventable conditions,such as type 2 diabetes,(and associated conditions)heart disease,some cancers,give hip or knee replacements to overweight people,lung disease caused by smoking,liver disease etc,which are all caused by lifestyle - infertility isn't preventable or caused by life style,and lets face it,isn't procreation the very reason we were put on this planet anyway ?

lynnexxxo

nottslass wrote: »

On that basis then then the nhs should only treat people who's illness is not preventable or caused by lifestyle !!!!

The nhs spends billions treating preventable conditions,such as type 2 diabetes,(and associated conditions)heart disease,some cancers,give hip or knee replacements to overweight people,lung disease caused by smoking,liver disease etc,which are all caused by lifestyle - infertility isn't preventable or caused by life style,and lets face it,isn't procreation the very reason we were put on this planet anyway ?

I agree and disagree with you notlass, the conditions you mention above are actual conditions that without treatment would probably kill or severely shorten life and debilitate. However physically, not getting IVF would not do any harm. Although personally I have been lucky and managed to get pregnant easily I have seem friends go through the heartache of not been able to concieve, and have every sympathy for anyone who is facing such heartache.

However the nhs trusts funds are not limitless and with new drugs becoming ever more expensive they have to find cost cutting measures somewhere.
Perhaps the fairest scheme would be to introduce a scheme where you had to pay for IVF, but with some means testing, so that you paid only what you could afford.

Marcheline

I am against IVF for ethical reasons: I believe that every embryo has the right to life and that 'additional' embryos should not be discarded when they are 'no longer needed'. There are other options available.