Almost 70% of NHS areas in England offer only one cycle of IVF, data shows
Millions of women in England are able to access only one round of IVF on the NHS because of health authority cutbacks and in contravention of official policy, research from a fertility charity has shown.Nearly 70% of local areas fund just one cycle for women under 40 who have been unable to conceive for two years, rather than the three full cycles they should be offered in line with official guidance, according to data collected by the Progress Educational Trust (PET).Twenty-nine of the 42 integrated care boards (ICBs), which control NHS budgets locally, now offer only the one round, after four reduced access in the past year.Sarah Norcross, the director of PET, said the impact was “devastating” for those couples who were struggling with infertility.“Infertility is already incredibly stressful for people, and it puts them under even more pressure, because there is so much riding on whether that one NHS-funded cycle is going to work.
And for some people, that will be their only chance, because private fertility treatment is so expensive.”The data showed that only two of England’s 42 ICBs – NHS North East and North Cumbria, and NHS North East London – have policies consistent with National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) guidelines, which they are not legally obliged to follow.The data also threw up regional variations, with the whole of the north-west offering just one cycle.“It’s a postcode lottery, and we’re seeing a race to the bottom,” said Norcross.Of the 29 ICBs that offer a single cycle of IVF, 19 provide only a partial cycle, where not all viable embryos created are transferred to the woman.
There was just one recent example of improved services, from NHS South East London, which in July 2024 went from one partial to two full cycles.Fertility rates in England and Wales have fallen since 2010 to 1.41 children per woman in 2024, the lowest on record and below the “replacement level” of 2.1 at which a country’s population is considered to be stable without immigration.The NHS estimates that about one in seven couples may have difficulty in achieving a pregnancy.
One cycle of IVF can cost from £5,000 at a private clinic.The health minister Karin Smyth said in an answer to a written question in parliament last month that it was “unacceptable” that access to NHS-funded fertility services varied across the country.Revised Nice fertility guidelines are due this spring but Norcross said changing them seemed like a pointless exercise.“Fertility treatment has always been a Cinderella service.It’s always been the one they’ve chosen to cut or to ignore.
Nice has recommended three full NHS-funded cycles, for women under 40, for more than 20 years,This has never been implemented across England, unlike in Scotland,”She advocated centralised commissioning, and replicating Scotland’s approach, which included financial modelling and a phased implementation starting with two cycles in order to avoid lengthy waiting lists, moving up to three cycles once capacity was achieved,“It is a tried and tested plan that England could follow,” Norcross added,A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise access to fertility treatment varies across the country and we are working with the NHS to improve consistency.
“Nice provides clear clinical guidelines, and we expect integrated care boards to commission treatment in line with these.“Updated Nice fertility guidelines are expected this spring and we will continue to support NHS England to make sure the guidance is fully considered in local commissioning decisions.” An NHS England spokesperson said: “These clinical services are commissioned by integrated care boards for their area based on the needs of the local population and prioritisation of resources available.All ICBs have a responsibility to ensure services are provided fairly and are accessible by different population groups.”
UK signed deals with US firms that were clients of Mandelson lobbying company
A lobbying firm co-owned by Peter Mandelson worked for OpenAI before the US tech company signed a wide-ranging agreement with the UK government to explore deploying AI in Britain’s justice, security and education systems.In 2024, the $500bn-valued maker of ChatGPT was a client of Global Counsel, which Mandelson co-founded and part-owned. Keir Starmer subsequently appointed Mandelson as ambassador to Washington.OpenAI last summer signed a memorandum of understanding with the UK government to develop partnerships “to expand public engagement with AI technology”.In September it signed another deal to provide 2,500 ChatGPT licences to UK civil servants, starting in the Ministry of Justice
Who could fill key No 10 vacancies – and win the battle for Starmer’s ear?
With three vacancies opening up at the very top of Keir Starmer’s operation, there is already a battle over who will win the war for his ear – and the direction of the government.The departure of Starmer’s most important political advisers – his chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, who was focused on the fight against Reform in Labour’s working-class heartlands; and Tim Allan, the director of communication, considered a Blairite – has immediately raised hopes on Labour’s soft left of a shift in their favour.At the same time, Starmer’s decision to get rid of the bureaucratic Chris Wormald as cabinet secretary has opened the door for a more radical replacement to drive through some of the Whitehall reforms and policy changes the prime minister has been calling for.The frontrunner for cabinet secretary is understood to be Antonia Romeo, the dynamic permanent secretary of the Home Office, who has impressed Shabana Mahmood, but other possible names floated include Minouche Shafik, Starmer’s economic adviser, and Louise Casey, the lead non-executive director for the government, who has previously said she would not be suited to the job.The one thing that everyone around Starmer agrees on is that the current void in Downing Street cannot be allowed to continue for long
Starmer says he ‘will never walk away’ as Burnham joins Labour figures backing PM – as it happened
Keir Starmer is speaking at an event in Hertfordshire.He starts with a reference to the events of yesterday – saying there has been a lot of politics around recently.But he is focused on the cost of living, he says. He says he knows what it is like to struggle, because when he was growing up his family couldn’t always pay their bills.He says he leads the most working-class cabinet in history
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Fighting Starmer wins another chance, but is still surrounded by peril
“Is it over?” That was the question that Labour MPs have been asking themselves and each other. But the meaning has shifted over the last 24 hours.After last Wednesday afternoon’s chaos in the Commons over the release of the Peter Mandelson documents, MPs widely believed it was the final throes of Keir Starmer’s leadership.But what looked like the start of a coup – when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for Starmer to resign – seemingly turned out to be a damp squib.When the prime minister really puts up a fight, people often see a different side to him
Andy Burnham backs Starmer but urges him to be bolder and more inclusive
Andy Burnham has publicly backed Keir Starmer while calling for him to show more boldness and be more willing to accept contributions from others within Labour.After a day of turmoil on Monday when the Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, called for Starmer to resign, the Greater Manchester mayor used a speech and Q&A in Westminster to call for unity while promoting his views on what the government’s platform should look like.Burnham’s intervention followed comments by the energy secretary, Ed Miliband, who used a round of morning media interviews to say Starmer should use his seemingly narrow escape from a leadership challenge to reshape his prime ministership and demonstrate “much greater clarity of purpose”.Burnham echoed the sentiment, saying it was time for everyone to be “facing in the same direction and pulling in the same direction around our ambitions”, but that the government should be more ambitious, notably on housing.“I think we are at a generational moment in politics,” he said
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