Referral Issues - What Should We Do?

[yustynne]

Hi,
We are having issues getting our referral accepted for a fertility treatment. Our GP issued us with a private referral letter as we don't qualify for a NHS treatment due to having a child already. I rang Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre to book an appoinment but they claim they accept patients (either NHS or self-funded) only through e-referral system. They won't accept our private referral letter posted to them. I rang my GP again requesting to refer us through e-referral system but GP is rejecting to do it stating we don't qualify for the NHS treatment (which we know anyway) and so we can't be referred that way. I feel like banging my head on the wall and not getting anywhere. So what should we do now? Both of them my GP and the Hospital suggest to go to a private fertility treatment centre. So how does it come other couples go to NHS hospital as self-funded couples and they have no problems getting referred by their GPs and we can't?

Hi @yustynne eReferrals are for NHS patients. If you are self finding you can just self refer, you don't need a GP letter. Does the hospital in question accept private (self funding) patients?

Most NHS clinics will accept self funding patients, but not all. In my experience if you are self funding you might as well use a clinic that is completely private - they seem to be more efficient and you won't get 'lost' and delayed in the long NHS waiting list.

The above isn't strictly true....most Ivf clinics attached to an NHS hospital or Birmingham Women's and Coventry university hospital require a GP referral letter even if you are self funding.....presumably because its treatment at an NHS hospital by NHS doctors

Private clinics don't require a referral - I had treatment via Create Birmingham and no referral was required (better success rates too)

There is also Care and the Priory in Birmingham

Thank you for your comments! Yes, Birmingham Women's Fertility Centre does accept self-funding couples. The mistery is how to get to them if the referral has to be done only through e-referrals system? They don't accept a self-referral or a private referral in a form of a letter. Any ideas?
The only cause we want to go to this NHS clinic is the cost. Most private clinics charge a lot while this one states the couples must pay only for medicines and the procedure but the rest is free of charge like consulationts and tests.

@yustynne

This one states the couples must pay only for medicines and the procedure but the rest is free of charge like consulationts and tests.

You realise that consultation and tests amount to your only a couple of hundred pounds and that the cost of medicines and the procedure at Bham Women's is thousands of pounds .....When you add up everything you'll need they are the same cost or more expensive than then private clinics.....:.🤔

(I know this as I researched the cost of Bham Women's and also Create, Care and the Priory 2 years ago....)

@yustynne I think you are wrong with consultations being free. I am with coventry and warwick NHS as self funded. I know a different hospital than bham women's but guessing they maybe similar. We had for free an initial 5-10 mins telephone call with a registrar who then said what tests we needed. Most of these, but not all were free on the NHS. Then to get any results or treatment plans we had to pay for further telephone appointments with the consultant at £170 a time. Then obviously the IVF and medications. I am not trying to be negative but want to manage your expectations. In terms of a referral my GP did refer for us (not sure how but I have never seen a letter she wrote so guessing ereferral). Before going to the GP I looked on my GP practice website and found a GP with a specialism in fertility and womens health and asked to see her. So don't know what your GP practice is like but could you try seeing a different GP?

@ivfbeenbusy
Which one did you end up going to in the end? To be honest, I haven't done a lot of research. I only looked at the price lists of some clinics closest to me. They all seem to have similar ivf costs not including medication, tests and consultations. But then reducing the cost even if slightly not having to pay for consultations or tests would be a bit of a help towards that hefty bill. How many consultations did you have in total? Also which tests do they normally need to do? Is it necessary to do the tests if our GP has done them half year ago? Can they rely on these ones except for semen analysis as may need a fresh one?

@Donimo
Yeah, I looked at Coventry NHS prices before and they mention that consultations and tests aren't free of charge and their ivf seemed to be priced more expensive than Birmingham Women's.
You are lucky you got referred by your GP! Did your GP tell you that you didn't qualify for NHS treatment? My practice is very small and there are only 3 GPs working. The reception lady after having a chat with GP was adamant that they are not going to refer me through their system as it's not for private patients. I'm sure there is a way but they simply don't want to do it.

Would you guys mind telling me how much 1 cycle of ivf/icsi would cost approx. including everything? Thank you

@yustynne, yes we were aware we weren't eligible for NHS funding (my 18 month old daughter was actually with me during the app that my GP referred me). But my GP didn't refer for IVF, just refered for fertility tests initially. Once we knew we needed ICSI I looked on HEFA and decided to stay with coventry as the reviews and success rates are some of the best for the area. We started ICSI last week and we have paid-
£80 for tests
£170 x 2 for consultations
£3330 for ICSI (IVF is approx £500 cheaper)
£830 ish for medications
£390 embroyoscope monitoring (this is an add on treatment which you don't have to have)
That gets us 1 complete cycle. Obviously additional costs if wanting to freeze any embryos after egg collection
Hope this helps

@yustynne I used the Priory 6 months ago and it cost:
£200 x 1 consultations
£500 for scans and tests
£3100 for IVF
£930 for medications

Yeah, this is what I'm talking about! I believe our GP is just not willing to refer us through e-referrals system though there is a way to refer. Our GP decided to do all the fertility tests themselves before referring to a specialist. They took my bloods to check my ovulation and sent me for a scan, while my husband had a semen analysis. When all that was back, she said she wouldn't refer us to a specialist as we didn't qualify for the NHS treatment.
To be honest, I don't know where to go from here. It's like GP is closing all the doors for us and leaves us to go only to the private clinics.
Thank you for the cost breakdown. I guess it will be more expensive in the private clinics:(

@yustynne

I went with Create and had twins last month

I eventually kept cost down by doing low drug protocols - my 3 cycle package of natural modified IVF with ICSI including all drugs was £13k

I went to an open evening which came with a free consultation. We'd already had tests done on the NHS (sperm etc) so we didn't have to pay for any additional costs that wouldn't have been chargeable on the NHS anyway

You have to pay for the standard HIV test for you and partner wherever you go

Hi there. We just phoned a clinic and they booked us in. We never had contact with our GP x

@Furmummy
Which clinic do you mean? Private ones probably book in straight away but not NHS Hospitals.

Yes for private clinics x

@ivfbeenbusy
Congratulations on your new arrivals!:) Double joy! What is the difference between natural/modified or mild ivf? If let's say I decide to go for natural, does it mean they would take out only one egg as this is what naturally happens normally in ovulation?

@Furmummy
The best of luck on your journey!