SHEFFIELD HEALTH AUTHORITY FERTILITY TREATMENT

Motion Text

That this House expresses extreme concern at the policy of Sheffield Health Authority to refuse fertility advice and fertility treatment on the National Health Service to anyone over the age of 35 years; further notes with concern that this policy is applied to patients already receiving treatment who have that treatment on the Health Service stopped once they reach 35 years and that all patients who are receiving treatment on the Health Service stopped once they reach 35 years and that all patients who are receiving treatment on the Health Service are informed of the name of a consultant and a standard list of charges for which the same treatment can be paid for privately; regards such a policy as an infringement of the basic rights of individuals who have paid into the National Health Service and who are being refused treatment under it and that, effectively, under this policy, people are denied the help to have children if they cannot afford to pay for it; further notes that the Sheffield Health Authority is also operating a policy whereby couples are refused fertility advice and treatment if either one of them has had a child by a previous relationship; therefore calls for a thorough investigation into the policies of the Sheffield Health Authority which are not replicated by many other health authorities in the country; and demands that the Government intervene to stop the refusal to treat solely on the grounds of age in order to implement in practice its opposition to age discrimination which was expressed recently to this House.