Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with the NHS on NHS spending following media reports on 8 September 2019 that the NHS is to review the ban on single women receiving fertility treatment.

The level of provision of local health services, including fertility treatment, available to patients is, and has been since the 1990s, a matter for local healthcare commissioners, who must consider the needs and priorities of all their population. Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) have the current statutory responsibility to commission high quality services that meet the needs of their local population. Decisions about treatment should always be based on patients’ clinical needs.

If there are concerns about provision of care, it is for NHS England to ensure the CCG is not breaching its statutory responsibility to provide services that meet the needs of the local population. Where performance concerns are identified, NHS England has the ability to exercise formal legal powers to either provide an enhanced support to a CCG, or in rare circumstances to intervene where it is believed that a CCG is failing, or is at risk of failing, to discharge its functions.

NHS England has advised that the CCGs in south east London have agreed to undertake a rapid review of the NHS South East London’s Treatment Access Policy Document in relation to access criteria for funding in vitro fertilisation (IVF) by the end of November 2019.

The CCGs have made a public apology for any offence caused by the wording in the Treatment Access Policy Document in relation to single women’s access to IVF treatment and the review document it refers to and agree that this wording is unacceptable.

The rapid review will also specifically consider issues relating to equality and discrimination in relation to single women. The CCGs will publish the review alongside any changes to the revision of the policy.

NHS England and NHS Improvement are aware that the CCGs are undertaking a review of the policy, as the body responsible for that policy. All CCG governing bodies were asked to review and approve any changes to the NHS South East London Treatment Access Policy made for 2019/20.

In taking clinical decisions about fertility treatment and taking account of their public sector equality duty, CCGs should make assessments based on clinical infertility and not on relationship status.