Ivf On The Nhs

[mrs_overall]

Another post on population growth got me thinking about this. The NHS is already stretched to capacity and infertility is not a life threatening illness. IMO no one has the "right" to have a child and I don't see why NHS resources should be spent on IVF,
Your thoughts?

[NoMercy]

Cosmetic enhancement is not available on the NHS and hasn't been for as long as I can remember.

Yes there are Plastic Surgeons in the NHS but they're there for disfigurements, scarring following trauma or, say, excisions of cancerous lesions...they don't offer there services to people seeking breast augmentation or rhinoplasty.

I do feel that anyone who has paid into the system and has a medical condition whereby they cannot naturally conceive, they deserve medical treatment for that condition, and if that means in vitro implantation...so be it...

Oh, and tourists don't get freebies from our health system - they have to pay!

[Sqad]

\\\Another post on population growth got me thinking about this\\\

Population growth in the UK has little to do with IVF on the NHS and more to do with soclal moral attitudes of the modern teenager. Forget to take their contraceptive pills because they are "p1ssed" or knowing that the state will look after their offspring. UK has the highest rate of teenaged pregnancy in Europe.

IVF on the NHS?..difficult.
On balance i agree with mrs_o.......too expensive at a time when the NHS is hemorrhaging money.It would seem that adoption would be a better option.

[emmie]

they do, and this isn't the first

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2299233/Model-Josie-Cunninghams-4-800-breast-op--foot-Outrage-NHS-provides-36DD-implants.html

[emmie]

many tourists don't pay, another small fortune owed by those who skip the country before someone can check whether they should have had treatment.

[jake-the-peg]

It's worth pointing out that there are some quite strict criteria for IVF - it's not exactly handed out like sweeties.

The woman must be 23-39 and the couple must have been trying for at least 3 years

In some areas there are also bars on smokers and there must be no living children.

And there are still long waiting lists.


If a young woman had early ovarian cancer and needed her ovaries removing would you still object to eggs being harvested, fertilised and reimplanted when safe to do so on the NHS in that circumstance?

[emmie]

have a read, they can't all be liars.

http://www.spectator.co.uk/features/8880071/international-health-service/

[jake-the-peg]

If that's not the first em -do you have another example?

This seems a pretty rare case where someone seems to have talked her way into it and then sold a 'scandle-story' to the papers for an undisclosed sum

So I'd be wary of taking it at face value!

[emmie]

http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/IVF/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[emmie]

JTP, the trouble with you and others is that you will not believe a word one says, nor if faced with any number of links, experience, will you see that it's happening, and perhaps have a read of the link as to who can get IVF on the NHS. I don't think it should be provided, and no i don't think that any woman should get cosmetic surgery other than those i have already suggested.

[emmie]

http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Breast-implants/Pages/Introduction.aspx

[jake-the-peg]

We also discussed that piece of exageration from the spectator '*may* be costing the NHS billions'

That estimate is orders of magnitude above any other estimate and if you read it comes from one particular sugeon's personal opinion.


Some people who dislike the socialised nature of institutions like the BBC and NHS would like to reduce the services the provide to a shoe-string of poor quality specifically so that they can point to it and say 'not fit for purpose'

I do hope you're not one of those em

[NoMercy]

I can't open your link, em, but as a rule cosmetic enhancement is not available on the NHS. There will always be exceptions or cases that slip through the net.

Infertility is a medical condition - and one which can cause severe depression. As such, treatment on the NHS should be available in my opinion.

There is plenty of waste in the NHS. People demanding intra-articular steroid injections or surgical intervention for conditions which could be managed conservatively with oral analgesia. There are people who routinely dial 999 to rack up their number of A&E attendances in anticipation of a Benefits Review. Yes, the NHS is haemorrhaging money but denying people the chance to become parents is wrong in my opinion. Money needs to be saved in other ways.

[mrs_overall]

NoM
This is straying slightly off topic which I didn't really want to do, but NHS tourism is alive and well and I have first hand experience of it

[Sqad]

em...people like Jake and he is not alone, live by statistics and web sites and are expert in picking the right statistic or www to further their arguments.
One can surf the web, find a report to support your argument and then re-surf and find a survey to oppose the same argument.

i have no objection to that as long as one realises the possibilities.

Anecdotal evidence (what one sees and hears on the ground) is given little credibility or, none at all.

[mrs_overall]

JTP - re the ovarian cancer scenario.
I had cancer as a very young woman and was told it was unlikely I would be able to have children. I was thankful to be alive and would not have gone down the IVF route

[naomi24]

I agree with you Mrs.O. The NHS should be there to combat illness and to save lives. The only exceptions I would make is if someone was, say, badly burned, or disfigured in an accident.

[NoMercy]

I don't really see how it is straying off-topic. I have given my answer to your original questions as "yes", I do believe IVF should be available on the NHS and I've given reasons why I think that it should. I've also tried, from an NHS worker's point of view, to give a little insight into the inner machinations of the system and dispel myths perpetuated by others on this thread that people are being denied life-saving cancer treatment in favour of women who want boob jobs.

If you wanted a monosyllabic "yes" or "no" answer to your original question, you should have said, m'dear...

[emmie]

Naomi i totally agree.

[emmie]

like Mrs O i have first hand experience, same as always, it's just that some will not believe what is right in front of them.

[emmie]

then a simple answer would be no, if that is what you want.