Peterborough MP calls for IVF services to be reinstated after online meeting with campaigners

At an online meeting, Mr Bristow listened to the experiences of campaigners and spoke about his own family’s IVF journey.

After the meeting he pledged to call on fellow MPs across the Cambridgeshire region to join the call to reinstate IVF and specialist fertility services.

The services were suspended in 2017 by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group due to financial constraints. The decision was then reviewed in 2019 when it was agreeed the services would be ‘suspended indefinitely’ until their deficit was eliminated.

This week’s online meeting organised by the PT was attended by Mr Bristow, Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald, local ‘Fight for IVF’ campaigner Amber Izzo, resident Samantha Mcculloch and other couples who wish to remain anonymous.

The CCG was invited to attend the call but declined the invitation, North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vera was also unable to attend but has pledged his support.

Inspired by his own journey with IVF, Mr Bristow said he is ‘motivated to do all he can’.

He said: “As someone who went through IVF to conceive our first child Becky, I know what these couples are talking about. It’s an issue I feel people need to hear.

“NICE have produced national guidance for what the NHS should provide and it is crystal clear. It is immoral that here in Peterborough and Cambridgeshire the CCG have taken the decision not to not provide that.

“What is the point in having a national body that examines health and cost effectiveness of interventions and then our CCG blatantly turns around and doesn’t follow this.

“I will do everything I possibly can to have this service back provided by the NHS. It’s the most important thing that has ever happened to me- having children. To see that denied for people, breaks my heart.”

Cllr Wayne Fitzgerald also stated he will ‘happily raise’ the cause with the NHS Sustainable and Transformational Partnership board which he sits on.

He said: “Cambridgeshire has to have plans for the healthcare it delivers and maybe people need to start reprioritising that IVF is or should be refunded and I will help push for that.”

Joining on the call, ‘Fight For IVF’ campaigner, Amber Izzo (26), Paston, spoke of her experiences and hopes for the CCG to change their mind.

“We will have been trying for six years in January. The impact it has had has been huge. It’s a lonely situation to be in as there’s still such a taboo. I think perhaps that’s one of the reasons it’s been an easier cut for them. It really impacts how you feel as a woman and like you’re letting your partner down. When I was diagnosed I went on a downward spiral and reached a crisis point. It was a really dark and lonely place. You’re grieving for a child you’ve never had. Financially it has had a huge impact, I work two jobs just to fund it.”

Another couple said: “I’ve been with my partner for six years and we were told we had a lower chance of conceiving naturally. We carried on trying and saving money. The treatment we were looking at costs around £7,000. We went for the egg sharing option at a clinic for a discounted cost of IVF but sadly they didn’t get enough eggs so we had another £3,500 in extra costs which led to us putting it on credit cards. I’m waiting to find out if my treatment has been successful.”

For Samantha McCulloch her IVF journey will have cost her close to £12,000.

“We started trying in 2016, I didn’t think IVF would be that expensive and I was a bit ignorant to it all. I knew from the get go it would be our starting point as I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. We paid two rounds upfront, saving for a year we saved £9,000 but we didn’t know the medication wasn’t included or any extra scans or medications we needed and we only got one embryo and it failed. It affects me more than anything.”

After hearing the ‘incredibly powerful stories from those on the call, Paul has set an action plan to combine efforts from all MPs in the area to call for the CCG to reinstate services. As well as this he hopes to hold a Westminster Halls debate on the important topic within the next few weeks.

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