Embryology

House of Lords written question – answered at on 22 June 2011.

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Photo of Lord Winston Lord Winston Labour

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many NHS cycles of in vitro fertilisation were commissioned in private hospitals in 2009 and 2010; and what was the average cost per cycle.

Photo of Earl Howe Earl Howe The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has advised that it requests that clinics reporting in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatments into the HFEA Register indicate whether the treatment is funded by the National Health Service. However, the HFEA Register does not contain information about the ownership or organisational set up (NHS or private) of the clinic itself.

The following numbers are based on the number of cycles reported in the years 2009 and 2010 in clinics that described themselves as either Private or NHS/Private Partnership in their latest licence application. Clinics only have to apply for a licence at intervals of up to four years, so in some cases, this information might not be up to date. The analysis was run on 20 June 2011 and numbers can change subsequently when centres submit delayed treatment forms.

Clinic status as described in licence application form IVF cycles in 2009 where NHS funding was reported IVF cycles in 2010 where NHS funding was reported
NHS/Private Partnership 5,167 6,347
Private 3,044 2,911
Total 8,211 9,258

The HFEA has no statutory powers to regulate or collect information on the cost of fertility treatments; therefore, this information is not available.

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