NHS IVF access criteria review

Criteria to access NHS IVF treatment in Scotland will be reviewed.

A national review will consider extending access to NHS IVF treatment to single women and couples who have children from previous relationships.

It will also look at consistency of access to fertility preservation, including access for women who have undergone cancer treatment, and at reducing waiting times for those who require donor eggs or sperm for their treatment.

Scotland currently has the most generous countrywide provision of NHS IVF in the UK, providing all new patients, subject to access criteria, up to three full cycles of treatment.

The review will also consider recent updates to clinical guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), which recommends up to three additional NHS-funded IVF cycles for those who have not achieved a successful pregnancy after their initial three cycles.

Speaking ahead of a visit to the Edinburgh Fertility Centre at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, Health Secretary Angela Constance said:

"Access to NHS IVF treatment should be fair, timely and reflect the way people's lives and families look today, and delivering this review is one of our key 100 day commitments.

“The review will look closely at the current system, including waiting times for those who need donor eggs or sperm for their treatment.

"This work builds on annual Scottish Government funding, which has supported the expansion of NHS IVF treatment over the past ten years."

Background

The National Fertility Group (NFG) will lead the review and make costed, demand-modelled recommendations, reporting by early summer 2027. The group is chaired by an NHS Board Chief Executive and brings together experts in their field, including representatives from each of the four NHS Assisted Conception Units across Scotland, Scotland’s Strategic Fertility Network, Public Health Scotland, Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service, and the third sector organisation Progress Educational Trust, and consider clinical research, evidence and data, and makes recommendations to Scottish Ministers.

Single women are not currently eligible for NHS IVF treatment; the review will consider extending eligibility to this group.

Same-sex couples already have access to NHS IVF treatment, but like others who require donor eggs or sperm, they can face longer waiting times. Any couple requiring a surrogate for their NHS IVF treatment must arrange their own surrogate before treatment, as the NHS does not have a role in identifying or matching surrogates or any financial or legal arrangements made between the surrogate and the genetic/commissioning couple.

Couples where one person has children from a previous relationship already have access to NHS IVF treatment, but couples who each have a child from a previous relationship are not currently eligible to access IVF together; this is one of the specific gaps the review will examine.

NHS IVF treatment is provided in four NHS Assisted Conception Units, in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Dundee and Aberdeen.

Overview | Fertility problems: assessment and treatment | Guidance | NICE