Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the time taken to implement the Women’s Health Strategy on LGBTQ+ people ageing out of NHS fertility eligibility.

The Government recognises that fertility treatment across the National Health Service in England is subject to variation in access. In light of broader pressures on the NHS and ongoing changes within NHS England, we have been looking again at achievable ambitions to improve access to fertility services and fairness for all affected couples.

Work continues between the Department and NHS England to better understand NHS-funded fertility services and the effectiveness of these services including the issue for LGBTQ+ people and specifically same-sex female couples. This work will take time to develop, however, the Department is keen to ensure there will be stakeholder engagement during this process beginning in the new year.

Funding decisions for health services in England are made by integrated care boards (ICBs) and are based on the clinical needs of their population. We expect ICBs to commission fertility services in line with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines ensuring equal access to fertility treatment across England.

NICE is currently reviewing the fertility guidelines and will consider whether the current recommendations for access to NHS-funded treatment are still appropriate. A consultation on revised guidelines was published on 10 September, which is available at the following link:

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10263/consultation/html-content-2