Great news – patients from Hertfordshire and West Essex can continue to have excellent NHS IVF treatment at Bourn Hall
Over 40 percent of patients from Hertfordshire and West Essex have a baby after just one cycle of NHS IVF treatment when treated at Bourn Hall. The clinic has held the contract for over a decade, and it has just been renewed by Hertfordshire and West Essex Integrated Care Systems (ICS) for a further five years.
NHS funding for IVF is welcomed
Although the recommended level of treatment is three cycles of IVF (according to NICE guidelines), in many areas – including Cambridgeshire and parts of Essex – no funding is available at all, so Bourn Hall welcomes the announcement that funding is continuing for patients with GPs in the East and North Hertfordshire CCG, Herts Valleys CCG and West Essex CCG.
Dr Mike Macnamee is the CEO of Bourn Hall, the world’s first IVF clinic, and he explains “In our experience, the greatest chance of successful treatment comes from creating a supportive environment and providing treatment that is most appropriate for the individual.
Delivering successful IVF treatment requires considerable skill and experience and takes a team of people: from the fertility doctor to retrieve the eggs, through to the embryologist to fertilise the eggs and select the embryos, supported by fertility nurses at every step.
This experience and personal attention is essential for success, particularly if couples only have one cycle of treatment.”
NHS IVF success rates
Bourn Hall achieves excellent success rates for NHS IVF patients, above the national average, and treats about 3,500 patients (NHS and self-funded) each year at our clinics in Cambridgeshire, Essex and Norfolk. We announced record results this year at the Cambridge clinic.
Matt and his wife Laura had NHS funded IVF treatment, and they did everything they could to boost their natural fertility – ultimately proving successful in the journey to have a child when their daughter Elle was born.
“Given the wide variety of funding for fertility treatments offered by NHS trusts across the UK, we appreciate how fortunate we are were to live in a county that provides this vital service to those desperately hoping to become parents.
We will always be extremely grateful for the NHS funded fertility treatment we received – without which we would not have had our beautiful Elle.”
Support for infertility
Bourn Hall provides a free fertility consultation with a fertility nurse specialist, which includes advice on lifestyle changes that can help people improve their natural fertility. Bourn Hall also has a Fertility Support Group that meets virtually on the third Thursday of the month. In addition, Bourn Hall’s rapid fertility testing service offers a diagnosis in a few weeks.