Fertility treatment to resume

[barbites]

Great news if you are having fertility treatment. Not sure why this is a priority given all the critical treatments and investigations put on hold.
Would really like dd to get her braces put on at the Orthodontists but obviously it's closed. Don't understand why fertility treatment has been prioritised?

"Have you experienced infertility? If not then I don’t think you have any right to comment on how easy or otherwise it is to carry on as normal."

Of course they can carry on as normal. Please explain to me why they cant. Lots of infertility treatment is given to people wanting second and third children. They can carry on a lot more normal than people with cancer, or in pain, etc etc.

I’m going to have to stop looking at this as it’s too upsetting just now but please to anyone who comes here to bash infertile people/ fertility treatment do think about what you are saying and about the human beings who are suffering here, try to have an open mind and some empathy, especially if you have easily conceived children of your own.

www.ncmedicaljournal.com/content/77/6/427

“Infertility has a profound impact on women's mental health and on the person as a whole. Physical, emotional, sexual, spiritual, and financial aspects of one's life are all affected by this disease of the reproductive system. The most common mental health concerns reported by fertility patients are symptoms of anxiety and depression...

Each passing monthly cycle brings a roller coaster ride of emotions such as anger, betrayal, guilt, sadness, and even hope. With each friend who announces her pregnancy and with every pregnant woman she passes in the grocery store, the patient's anxiety and stress can become overwhelming.

Infertility can also affect a person's sexual self-esteem, desire, and performance. Many couples have sex as a way to connect emotionally. When sex becomes associated with failure and frustration, couples may lose this emotional connection. The pressure to perform or to have (or abstain from) sex due to infertility treatments can isolate partners and divide couples. Fertility treatments also make sex less spontaneous, as it becomes focused on procreation rather than recreation. As fertility treatments continue, spontaneity and emotional connection can become greater challenges [3]...

Finances are another area of immense anxiety as couples struggle to pay for medical treatments and still have money left to raise the child(ren).“

@TabbyMumz see above. If you haven’t experienced it, you cannot understand the pain. No fertility treatment for 2nd or more children is carried out on the NHS.

Bowing out now as things are hard enough without this tbh.

Dyrne.....someone said "it literally has zero affect on ANY other treatment", to which I pointed out "it does if it increases footfall in hospitals.". It will increase footfall in hospitals, and that might then have an impact on who opens next. I just think decisions should be made on the sequence of hospitals opening up wards and how they do it. If I was running a hospital, infertility would not be my first choice.

"I’m going to have to stop looking at this as it’s too upsetting just now but please to anyone who comes here to bash infertile people/ fertility treatment"

No one is bashing infertile people, it's a discussion around Government policy and what the Government has decided to do.

I think most of the dissenters on here are missing the point. Me resuming my PRIVATELY paid for treatment is my own business - it's not impacting the NHS anymore than another person who is lucky enough to be fertile who also is lucky enough to get pregnant the same time as me. I'm not taking resources away from chemo treatment or other operations - that's the NHS business to resume these.

IVF clinics whether NHS or private don't have specialist fertility doctors who can then pick up a scalpel and do a knee operation - these skills aren't interchangeable FFS so IVF resuming isn't going to prevent these other treatments going ahead

If I get pregnant next month I don't need to Then shield for 12 weeks - that was put in place before lockdown to see pregnant people through the peak of the virus - of which has passed

TabbyMumz but fertility clinics aren’t “first”?! And Individual hospitals haven’t even made decisions yet on if they’ll open up additional services or in which order.

Have you even bothered to read the circumstances of all this or have you just thought “ah, a chance for me to stick the boot in, perfect!”

"No fertility treatment for 2nd or more children is carried out on the NHS."

Its often carried out in hospitals. Hospitals that many many other people need to go to, to get treatment for many other serious ailments. Just wouldnt be my first choice o open that's all.

"Dyrne

TabbyMumzbut fertility clinics aren’t “first”?! And Individual hospitals haven’t even made decisions yet on if they’ll open up additional services or in which order.

Have you even bothered to read the circumstances of all this or have you just thought “ah, a chance for me to stick the boot in, perfect!”"

Dyrne...MattHancock announced fertility clinics can now open /are now opening. I'm aware they said something similar about cancer and mental health clinics the other day too resuming services. So yes, they are opening up and getting running before a lot of other departments. Departments where people might need opations to free them from pain, or to elongate their life...departments which might help individuals to get somewhere close to normal. My point is that fertility clinics wouldnt have been at the top of my list. Noone is putting the boot in for goodness sake.

The extent to which some posters on this thread are completely unwilling to try to understand how health services (public and private) and medical regulatory authorities work is depressing.

As is the lack of empathy.

@kikisparks

Why don’t you actually bother to read the actual announcement then?

www.gov.uk/government/news/health-secretary-welcomes-reopening-of-fertility-services

I’ll copy and paste and bold appropriate sections here as you can’t be arsed to research it yourself:

“Fertility clinics across the UK can apply to reopen from Monday 11 May, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has confirmed, if they ensure the safety and protection of staff and patients.

The regulator has today set out new conditions for clinics, both private and NHS, to meet in response to the coronavirus outbreak.

All clinics will be required to set out a strategy to show they are meeting conditions to provide safe and effective treatment during the outbreak before they are given the green light to restart treatment.

Social distancing will be a requirement in waiting rooms and telephone appointments could be used where suitable. Appropriate personal protective equipment will also be provided where necessary.

[...]

Many private clinics may be able to demonstrate their readiness to restart services relatively quickly, but it’s recognised that NHS clinics may require longer to achieve the necessary conditions due to other factors, such as the redeployment of staff in frontline roles.

To ensure fair provision, the Health and Social Care Secretary will write to all clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) this week to confirm they are in a position to begin resuming fertility treatments to those in their area – either through a private clinic or an NHS service.”

So actually it’s just that a blanket ban has been lifted, but clinics will have to ensure that the resumption of services won’t have a negative impact.

Not riding roughshod over other services.

Its often carried out in hospitals. Hospitals that many many other people need to go to, to get treatment for many other serious ailments. Just wouldnt be my first choice o open that's all.

Actually that's a load of bollocks.

MOST IVF clinics - the biggest providers in the country operate in stand alone premises often on business parks

There are actually very few which are part of NHS hospital buildings

"@TabbyMumzsee above. If you haven’t experienced it, you cannot understand the pain."
And I'm presuming you cant understand the pain for lots of other conditions. Ones people might die from.

"Fertility clinics across the UK can apply to reopen from Monday 11 May, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) has confirmed,if they ensure the safety and protection of staff and patients."
And..
"Social distancing will be a requirement"

What you dont seem to understand is there will be many many other depts in hospitals wanting to open. So the first clinic to open will be able to demonstrate social distancing etc because the rest of the hospital will be quiet. Then another dept will say well we want to open too. They will find it harder to demonstrate social distancing as there will be more footfall, then the third dept will find it even harder to demonstrate and so forth. Fertility wouldn't have been my first choice. If they are a standalone clinic out in the sticks, then fine...but if they are in a hospital, where footfall matters in times of covid, no.

TabbyMumz nobody is disputing that other conditions are not serious or deserving of sympathy and treatment.

We are disputing that this announcement (that some clinics can resume under some conditions) means that other services won’t be able to resume. It’s not an either/or situation.

"There are actually very few which are part of NHS hospital buildings"
I can think of 3 big hospitals near me where they are in the main hospital, right off the main walkway.

"Wearedisputing that this announcement (thatsomeclinics can resume undersomeconditions) means that other services won’t be able to resume. It’s not an either/or situation."
You arent getting it are you. It's all about timing. There could be someone desperately needing another clinic which will now be delayed, because fertility opened first.

TabbyMumz it’s not a case of first come, first served, though? This announcement is simply paving the way for fertility clinics to possibly be able to resume. It also says in the announcement that some appointments may be moved elsewhere (to a private clinic) or done via telephone.

I honestly don’t know why you’d think the hospital directors will turn to the MS therapy department, for example, shrug their shoulders and go “sorry, fertility got there first, social distancing is full, no treatment for you lot”.

The announcement isn’t saying “all fertility clinics are definitely opening and fuck everyone else”; it’s saying that the blanket ban is being lifted so that those clinics which can resume are able to.

@TabbyMumz

Have you actually been in there though or are you basing this off having walked past a sign saying Fertility treatment this way in the hospital??

What you might have seen is the gynaecology/ fertility assessment centres - where you go for fertility testing as referred by a GP not necessarily related to ultimately having IVF. They do all sorts of tests in those wards. That is not necessarily where the actual treatment takes place.
The majority of the time you get your funding confirmation and you can choose the clinic - most private clinic also take NHS patients so the actual treatment takes place off site

So for example someone might not get an appointment at the eye clinic, that might save their sight, because the fertility clinic opened first and the footfall around the hospital is higher, so the eye clinic has to wait longer to open as covid deaths are still high. Or someone needing an operation on their kidneys, but that cant take place again because of footfall in the hospital. Nobody is saying fertility isnt important, but there are other clinics that should open first.

You arent getting it are you. It's all about timing. There could be someone desperately needing another clinic which will now be delayed, because fertility opened first.

I really don't think you know what you are talking about

The IVF clinic applies to the HFEA - and to be honest most of this will have been done behind the scenes in the next couple of weeks. It's not a 10 page application form which then gets assessed by NHS doctors who then decide If they can reopen and whilst that doctors is visiting the IVF clinic he can't visit the knee surgery clinic.

The HFEA is a fertility only body - it isn't going to asses whether a bloody arthritis clinic is able to open

By the same token, why not open up clinics that are often off site in separate buildings for breast testing?

TabbyMumz I’m going to bow out of this one now.

I honestly don’t know how to convince you that there is absolutely no way clinical treatment will be dispensed and prioritised like it’s a road trip and Fertility have called “shotgun” first so all other services are screwed.

I don’t know why you want to have this mental image of a woman swanning in to have her 6th baby implanted stepping over someone who is literally going to go blind; when the actual most likely scenario is that fertility treatments will take place at a private clinic off site entirely.

"The HFEA is a fertility only body - it isn't going to asses whether a bloody arthritis clinic is able to open"

Nobody said that. It's the government at the end of the day who are doing the deciding. I just think it's an odd decision and announcement to make. Millions of people will be awaiting more urgent treatment, and the government decide to announce how fertility can get up and running. Just odd. And a bit of a kick in the teeth to people awaiting life saving treatment.

footfall around the hospital

No where in any statement by the government or NHS has anyone said reopening a clinic will be based on footfall so if the IVF clinics gets in first with 100 patients that means the ear/nose/throat clinic has to see 100 less 🤣🤣

Each clinic will open on its own merits - I expect that they will have less appointments close together to enable social distancing in waiting rooms and staff will be masked and gloved up