ABSTRACT
There is a great variation in the availability, accessibility and range of services of National Health Service (NHS)-funded provision of fertility treatment. The varying selection criteria set by health authorities has the effect that the availability of NHS-funded fertility treatment depends on geographical location and social situation rather than patients' needs. In vitro fertilisation (IVF) was one of the first treatments to be explicitly rationed by the NHS. In 1993, the purchasing plans of six of 114 health authorities in the UK explicitly stated that they would not be buying any IVF or Gamete intra-fallopian transfer (GIFT) treatments for their populations. The differences in outlook were based on diverse interpretations of the relative importance of factors considered in assessing the needs of their local populations. There was a variation in waiting time for assisted conception treatment from up to a year after referral to more than four years after referral.
