Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to maintain current levels of IVF provision when CCGs are transitioned into Integrated Care Systems; and what steps his Department is taking to work with the NHS to achieve that end.

We expect integrated care boards to make funding decisions for health services based on the clinical needs of their local population and to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines to ensure equal access to fertility treatment across England.

NICE is currently reviewing its fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to National Health Service funded treatment and preservation are still appropriate. We expect that this review will be published in 2024.

The Women’s Health Strategy, published on 20 July 2022, contained a number of important changes and future ambitions to improve the variations in access to NHS funded fertility services. We continue to work with NHS England on this and we will update shortly on our priorities for implementation.