NHS fertility waiting lists after lockdown

[orangeloo]

Hi, I'm due to be eligible for fertility referral in a month or so and just wondering 1. If nhs fertility although they are open have they only resumed ivf or is your hospital doing investigations too? 2. If they are what are waiting lists like? Tia. I'm in the south east but would love to get a general idea also.

Bump

Hi @orangeloo I'm in London and the blood tests here are going ahead, but my pelvis scan was cancelled in March and hasn't been rescheduled yet. I spoke to my GP about it yesterday and he said he'd ask for a new referral and see if they'll book me in - will let you know if I hear back.
DP's SA was rescheduled from March to Jan 2021 though...

Most people I know waiting for IVF on the NHS are looking at minimum 6 month wait and most around 10 months - and that's AFTER they have completed all the tests and obtained referral and funding. As you haven't had any investigations yet it's at least 6 months before you might get booked in for those and then there is a waiting list to start the actual IVF itself

@beachbum85 yes pls do let me know. Whhhat that is crazy about the semen analysis.

@ivfgottostaypositive I've had some investigations but will need one or two more. Gosh that is such a long time.

I'm really wondering as I may spend what little savings I do have having outstanding investigations privately. But I think I'll try find out for certain first.

My friends who have had private investigations did recommend that path to me - they said it was so much quicker and, more importantly, they felt like they were taken care of much better and didn't have to 'fight' for a referral. And that was without any of these closures.

We are thinking of that too, but obviously it's costly!

Hi. Hope you don’t mind me jumping on as I’d like to know this too. My partner and I had had all the necessary tests done however the gp informed me this morning my blood tests are now out of date so I need to have all these done again. So we still haven’t even got to the referral stage yet.

@orangeloo I don’t know how to do a link here, but there’s a chat on the Infertility section about which clinics are re-opening and when. Good luck.

Just spoke to my GP and she’s agreed to do blood tests. She doesn’t think they are doing sperm analysis at the moment though and you need both partners tested before they can refer you. She said they aren’t able to do referrals at the moment but she spoke to her colleagues and texted me back and they said they don’t think it will be long before they can which is positive! Just no idea when we’ll be able to get my partner checked. He’s going to ring his dr tomorrow and see. He had a test a couple of years ago and it was fine but they need a more up to date one.

@Banoffeepie91 let us know what they say about doing referrals again. I have the email of the medical secretary for gynae at my gp practice I'm gonna email her and try get some info. don't hold out much hope though.

@orangeloo I think not having much hope is the best way to go about it. That way you prepare for the worst and if there’s any good news it’s a bonus. I was fully prepared to not even be able to get blood tests done so feel so happy now that I can. My GP was so lovely about everything as well and it’s clear that she’s just as frustrated as me that they can’t do more at the moment.

The secretary didn't give me much info, she just said they are taking referrals but the referrals are going onto a wait list and there is a wait. I also have to wait til August to be referred so think I will get my tube test privately. It can help fertility anyway and it's one less thing to wait in nhs for. This is gonna be an expensive year but I need answers and am desperate for a baby.

We had our initial NHS infertility clinic appointment on 10th March, literally like a week before lockdown! I have to have tests including bloods again, HSG and an internal ultrasound. I've had 3 cycles since the appointment and when my last one started on 25th May I rang again to try and book in and was told they're still on hold. That was a Monday, they initially confirmed on hold on the Wednesday but then I got a follow up call on the Friday to say they'd do my HSG. HSG done 4th June. If my period arrives this month I'll try again for bloods. My internal ultrasound is booked for 7th August and I now have the overall follow up by telephone on 11th August. By August we'll have been trying 2 years and our initial GP tests came back "normal" x

@lankyliscuits thanks for info. Apart for the initial Covid delay it doesn't sound too bad and like things are moving again now. Where abouts UK are you? X

Our consultation was initially booked for May or ~2 month delay. I'm in South Yorkshire 🙂

Sorry, just woken up and obviously figured that out wrong... 3 month delay!

Just giving this a bump to see if anyone knows how things are now? Have things sped up? Getting back to normal? Any cancelled tests been booked in? Anyone started ivf since lockdown lifted?

Our clinic are now accepting referrals but we can’t get referred until my partner has his SA done and he calls up every week and they say they can’t do it yet. Got a drs appointment today and going to see if she can do a private referral with the SA.

@Banoffeepie91 that's frustrating! I know covid is awful and a priority but I don't understand why that are still not booking in routine things. The government have said they can and fertility treatments can resume but they aren't!? I would deffo go private I think I paid £110 for my partners SA and if it stops all this faffing with nhs it will help speed things up. Just make sure you get a copy of report to show nhs.

Following this thread as curious ourselves as just hit 12 month mark. OH has been sent for SA by his GP yesterday but not sure on waiting times as he needs to ring. I need to get sorted with ringing my GP but feel a bit like I’m scared of the outcome of it all so haven’t yet. Has anyone been able to get blood tests sorted with GP easily recently?

@LS2020 I managed to get my blood test pretty quickly last month, but it was a follow-up on my CD21 bloods because of a thyroid issue, so not only for fertility reasons - I don't know if that changes anything.

My GP said he would re-refer me for the pelvis exam (cancelled in March), but I didn't hear back, and my partner's SA is still scheduled for 2021, so we ended up doing those privately.

Hello
I was referred to the fertility clinic by my GP just before lockdown, our intial appointment was of course cancelled, although we have since had a telephone consultation (only 6 weeks after the original appointment) and I had bloods taken at the fertility clinic and an internal scan 2 weeks ago and DH is booked in for his SA on Thursday. I have to wait until the 6 Aug for the results but the doctor said my scan looked perfectly normal and I was about to ovulate but AF arrived last week.. grrrr. I'm based in the North-East, so it sounds like different rules for different areas.

@Kitttycatt that sounds quite okay, glad it hadn't been too frustrating for you. Yes sadly think it's depending a lot on areas.

@LS2020 I think it really depends on where you are. Got all my bloods done no problem at the GP and luckily I already had ultrasound done before Covid-19. I think we’ve done as much on the NHS as we can without having to wait for months so we’ve decided to get everything done privately now as we’ve saved some money recently (thank you stamp duty holiday).

Thanks @beachbum85 @Banoffeepie91 going to call Monday to get an appointment to sort bloods and hopefully they can get started. We’re West Yorkshire and they’ve told my OH that they still not doing SAs despite it showing on website so going to ask if we can pay private for it and hopefully that speeds things up 🤞🏻

@LS2020 we’re West Yorkshire as well :). We’ve decided to just go privately with everything now I’ve had my bloods done and our first appointment is on Monday. OH will need his SA and then I’ll probably need some more scans and bloods before they know what treatment we need but I’m feeling hopeful!