Anguish of couples waiting 3 years for IVF

COUPLES are being forced to wait up to three years for fertility treatment in the Lothians.

New figures show the wait for IVF treatment has got even worse since 2005, when an average wait of 24 months was branded "unacceptable" by health chiefs.

At that time, a change in guidelines which meant many more couples were eligible for treatment, as well as well as a national shortage of sperm and egg donations, was blamed for the delays.

A recent funding boost means more people than ever are being given IVF treatment at Edinburgh Royal Infirmary but the number of couples on the waiting list has also increased, to 460.

Campaigners today demanded measures to end the "postcode lottery" that meant Lothians patients were waiting so long - waiting times in Glasgow were just seven months in 2005.

Sheena Young, head of business development for Infertility Network UK, said: "The only thing worse than finding out you need fertility treatment is finding out that you will have to wait years to receive it. One in six couples seek specialist treatment for fertility problems and the impact of infertility can be devastating.

"However, excellent results can be achieved in treating infertility if patients are rapidly investigated and referred for the appropriate treatment and patients must be given the chance to access this treatment without having to wait, in some cases up to three years."

Long waits for treatment could ruin some women's chances of ever having a child, as the likelihood of conceiving drops as people get older.

The Scottish Executive said it will analyse the reasons for differences in waiting times across the country. Its recent review of infertility services did not introduce a national waiting times target, as many hoped it would.

Dr David Farquharson, NHS Lothian's clinical director for women and reproductive services, said: "We are looking at ways of reorganising the service so that we can offer first appointments for people more swiftly. An extra investment of £170,000 was made into the service in 2005/06, which allowed us to increase the number of patients we could assist.

"This resulted in a reduction of waiting times, at one stage to 19 months. However, rather than have to disappoint patients, at present we are saying to potential recipients of IVF treatment that there could be a wait of up to three years before they begin the first cycle of treatment."

IVF is a technique in which egg cells are fertilised by sperm outside the woman's womb.

In 2002/03, 135 Lothian couples received IVF treatment, dropping to 119 in 2004/05, then rising to 190 in 2005/06 - although some cycles may have been cancelled partway through for medical reasons. The figures include fresh and frozen cycles, oncology patients and donor recipients.

A Scottish Executive spokeswoman said: "Our interim response to the review of infertility services in Scotland recommended widening access to NHS-funded infertility treatment by raising the upper age limit for treatment from 38 to 40.

"We also recommended to NHS Boards that the upper age limit of 40 should be scrapped for replacement of embryos frozen before that age. There is no waiting times target for infertility treatment. We will be undertaking further work with NHS Boards and stakeholders to examine the reasons for differences in waiting times."