In Vitro Fertilisation

(asked on 18th April 2017) - View Source

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department takes to (a) regulate and (b) monitor the provision of IVF treatment.


This question was answered on 26th April 2017

In the United Kingdom the provision of in vitro fertilisation (IVF) is regulated by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended (1990 Act). Establishments wishing to provide IVF treatment must first be granted a licence from the UK national regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA). The 1990 Act requires that all IVF treatment cycles are reported to the HFEA. As part of the Authority’s duty to ensure that safe, high quality care is provided to patients, it is required by the 1990 Act to inspect all licensed establishments a minimum of once every two years.

The Department has no role in the regulation of IVF provision and does not collect statistics about this. NHS England is responsible for oversight of the commissioning system. I wrote to NHS England on 7 March 2017 asking that it re-emphasise to all those involved in commissioning fertility services that they should have regard to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) fertility guideline.

The Department, NHS England and professional and stakeholder groups are working together to develop benchmark pricing for fertility services to ensure that clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) can get best value for their money. These partners are also developing commissioning guidance. This guidance aims to improve the quality of commissioning and encourage the full implementation of the NICE fertility guidance. NHS England has agreed to disseminate and promote the guidance to all CCGs in England.

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