Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to ensure equal access to IVF treatment across the UK.

Clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) are responsible for commissioning local health services and ensuring the needs of the local health population are met. NHS England is responsible for oversight of the commissioning system. National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) guidelines are evidence based best practice for clinicians but are not mandatory.

NHS England has advised that the in vitro fertilisation (IVF) benchmark price will be developed during 2017/18 with support from the IVF Expert Advisory Group and all key stakeholders, working towards publishing the IVF benchmark price ready for the financial year 2018/19. It is also planning to develop and test an IVF outcome based payment approach with a number of CCGs and service providers in 2018/19.

NHS England and professional and stakeholder groups including the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, are working together to develop commissioning guidance. This guidance aims to improve the quality of commissioning and further encourage the implementation of the NICE fertility guidelines. NHS England has agreed to disseminate and promote the commissioning guidance to all CCGs in England.