'why do so many people see it as such a low priority?'
In my case, I see it as low priority because it is rarely directly life threatening, life shortening, or disabling to the point of no longer being able to work. I appreciate the emotional toll is harsh, I listen and care for my two close friends using IVF the past few years.
But I have a severe and aggressive form of rheumatoid arthritis, a condition which is both life shortening and will at some stage prevent me from earning my living. I am so grateful for the NHS help I do get. Which is rationed. I had to endure 16 months of unnecessary pain and irreversible physical damage and emotional hard work, failing on the old fashioned treatments before I was able to access the new and very effective stuff which costs nearly £10,000 per year, as per NICE guidelines, and which keeps me able to work and care for my family. Despite the harsh and taxing side effects of the medications.
I have never insisted on physiotherapy in my Central London PCT, which is just so stretched its sad. The three surgeries I need will also be spaced, not just according to my clinical need, but also by how much pressure the surgeons are under to fit me in. I sometimes need to go to the infusion clinic next to the cancer outpatients clinics and I cannot believe the state of the facilities and the lack of time the staff have to care properly.
NHS resources are finite and should be and are rationed, as is IVF. I would be much happier if this was much more explicit and also did not vary as much by postcode, although population health needs do change by area to some degree.
If I, and those who love me, can live with this level of rationing, I think people with infertility issues can also live with it. I am still not sure if I am in the 32% who say no to IVF on the NHS at all. I think on the whole not, but the rationing needs to fairer and explicit.