GPs ‘ignore NHS official guidelines and deny IVF to over 40s in order to save money’
Women over 40 are being refused free IVF on the NHS as doctors ignore official guidelines.
An investigation has revealed that just four out of 211 GP-run Clinical Commissioning Groups are funding this treatment.
In February the health watchdog NICE said IVF must be available to all women aged 40 to 42 as well as lesbian couples.
The advice sparked controversy as treatment costs £4,000 a time and research shows only about 17 per cent women of this age fall pregnant, and about half of those suffer miscarriages.
The British Medical Journal used Freedom of Information requests to reveal that the majority of organisations ignore the advice.
Elsewhere, NHS Stafford and Surrounds CCG and NHS Cannock Chase CCG have policies to reduce hospital referrals for muscle, bone and joint problems.
Dr Jerry Luke quit as clinical director of NHS Crawley CCG in West Sussex, warning: They have only one real duty, and that is to end the year in budget. Everything else is secondary to that.
Dr Chaand Nagpaul, a GP in Harrow, North-West London, said patients were at the mercy of a postcode lottery where chances of getting treatment were dependent on the CCGs budget.
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