Manchester NHS IVF - experiences?

[RingLightLight]

Hi! Just this week been to have bloods and US scan at reproductive health at St. Mary‘s.

I have (lean) PCOS and late 30s.

Bit frustrating as at every step you’re given a new time frame - but no overview of what the overall time might be and what will happen at each stage.

I've been told 12 weeks to hear back and then no idea what might happen after and in what time frame. I did ask today and was told to look at website. But this information isn’t on the website.

There's no info on decision criteria, overall timeframes, etc.

Anyone been through treatment recently at this hospital and have an idea what to exist? Thank you x

Was you given any other options apart from SM? When I spoke to create they said if I wasn't comfortable with the referred clinic we could we could try and appeal it, might be worth speaking to which ever hospital referred you to see if this could be done? I'm currently at Oldham hospital who have said when they do the referral it will either be done through SM or create, really hoping we get create.

Regards Manchester fertility I don't have any personal experience with them but a friend of mine has just got pregnant through them and said they were fab, also went through SM for NHS round and said they weren't the best

Good luck x

So did your GP refer you to Oldham hospital then they referred you to SM? I’m so confused about the process!!

Yes so had all our initial tests done (bloods, scans & SA) through the GP who then referred us to a gynae at Oldham hospital, when we saw the consultant in July he said due to DP low sperm count & my irregular cycles that really our only option was IVF, he requested a repeat SA before he would do this, SA done and no change so back in with the gynae consultant beginning of October who will then do our IVF referral, he said it would either be SM or CREATE
This is now where I'm getting confused on wait times and what happens next!
It seems we have all had different journeys to get to the end point, it doesn't seem very streamlined 😫x

No, not at all!

I haven’t seen a gynaecologist at all, and GP wasn’t able to do US (although I’m pretty sure they’d already done the same bloods). I approached on the basis of – we’re TTC and I have PCOS, what should I do/know – and was just referred directly to SM after a blood test. There was no mention of choices or funding (although my Drs are v nice and v good at doing quick referral’s for everything). I’m in South Manchester.

If the gyn/hospital are approachable, I wonder if it’s worth stating a preference to them, so they can take this into account? If you haven’t been seen by SM yet, you may be asked to wait 3 months to have bloods and scan done again (they duplicated my GP blood tests), followed by 3 months to receive a decision on next steps. I don’t know how long things take after that as I’m still waiting to hear back from the tests and application! I’m just past the 3 month mark as I was seen beginning of June at SM. I imagine there would/will be further waits for subsequent appointments, but no idea how long. As mentioned upthread, when I asked about overall timelines at SM, the nurse went decidedly frosty! X

@RingLightLight Is SM your closest hospital? I think it might be worth going back to your GP to ask to be referred somewhere different? I would of thought they would try different avenues before going straight for IVF to help you get pregnant naturally
This is what I'm dreading if that's the case it will feel like I'm starting all over again!! X

Yes I think I‘m going to go back tomo and ask if new referral is possible. SM have a general gynaecology dep too, and it’s where I’ve always gone for smears – although it seems this time I was referred directly to Dep for reproductive medicine. The application / eligibility assessment form they gave me will go to the HFEA by the looks of the form. So is not clear if choices will be offered after that, or if because it went through SM, my IVF referral (which was never discussed!) is specifically for SM. My GP mentioned he’d only ever done one private referral, which was during lockdown and because SM was not running as usual. But he was very open to it, although admitted he didn’t really know much about how it works.

It’s all a bit labyrinthine!! 🙈😊 (And sorry for the essay!!)

@RingLightLight it really is!
That's good he's willing to help! It was my gynae consultant who actually told us about create so being referred somewhere else is definitely do-able, to be honest I just presumed I would get referred to SM as it's an NHS hospital, it just all comes down to funding at the end of the day x

And yes, that’s what I was expecting – to try a few months on clomid or one of the other treatments offered for PCOS, and see if this worked. Although I’m 39, so this may have been factored in. I guess they may also still suggest this before trying IVF. Completely in the dark.

On the plus side, Create seem to get things moving v quick X

Oh he sounds good! That’s great that they're pro-actively discussing options and what might be best for you. I wonder if there are further eligibility criteria for different referrals or what the decision making process is. Will have a look online and post if I find anything! x

@HopeHopeandmoreHope I ended up going private to avoid the wait.

Sorry i cant remember who asked but if you want to go NHS with any of the clinics you need a direct referral from your GP.

NHS or private i think youre better with the smaller Fertility clinics over SM

@RingLightLight I am really going to push for create or even try and add care into the mix when I next see the consultant. My appointment is 2 weeks on Monday so I will update then, hopefully have more of an idea of what happens next, good luck with your GP!

I've just remembered when create contacted me I miss their first call and they emailed me, this was there response

"Unfortunately, there is nothing in particular that you could do to sway this. If however you are not allocated to us, I would suggest looking into getting your funding transferred over which is generally possible to do.
I would also like to recommend joining one of our weekly virtual events hosted by our Medical Director, Professor Nargund."

They then called again the following day so they were good at getting in contact x

Wow, so much information! I didn't realise I could push to move to Create etc via the NHS, I just presumed if we went down that route it would have to be private? I might send them an email and get a bit more information? I'm also going to give SM a call today and see if I can get booked in for the consultation and gauge timelines from that? Its such a minefield isn't it. I naively never thought it would come to this, so I'm still trying to get my head round being in this situation in the first place 😢

Yes definitely worth contacting them or going back to your GP
I am exactly the same, I honestly expected the gynae to say we'll try x, y & z before going straight for IVF but he was sure this was our only option. I don't think it will feel real for me until we have that first IVF consultation to be honest! Know your not alone, feel free to ever PM me if you need to talk, I get it x

Thanks so much, I really appreciate it. Its such a tough time isn't it, and if one more person says 'just relax' or 'things are meant to be' I'll scream!! 😂 Can I ask your situation? How long have you been trying? My partner and I have been trying for around a year now, both 38. Both our tests came back ok (I think, although that's just Dr Google telling me), but it's looking like we're going to need help, I'm also so aware time isn't on our side so I don't want to carry on trying naturally for too much longer then it maybe being more difficult with IVF.

@Tryingtobepatient001 tell me about it "stop trying and it will happen" yea ok then!!😂
So we've been trying for 2 years, I have irregular cycles and PCOS has been thrown around but never officially been diagnosed, DP has low sperm count so at our gynae appointment we was told IVF was really our only option! I'm almost 29 and DP is 31 x

hahaha I know right??? Its so annoying! Do you have a date for your consultation then? I've just spoken to Care Fertility, they have advised they do take NHS referrals but I need to speak to my GP to get my details passed over. Just phoned my GP but their systems are down and the receptionist sounded over stressed so decided today probably wasn't the best day to ask 😂
My plan is to try and get a referral to either Care or Create rather than going down the SM route. I like the sound of the natural IVF from Care Fertility, but thats probably because I'm so awful with needles and the idea of having to inject myself makes me feel so faint!

@Tryingtobepatient001 our next consultation at the hospital with the gynae is 2 weeks on Monday from then he will do my referral so I've got everything crossed things move abit quicker then, I had my last appointment mid-July and the first appointment I could get back in with the gynae was October!
Oh gosh yeah sounds like another day will be better haha! I hope you feel a bit better knowing you have different clinic options x

I really do!! Thanks so so much for passing that info on. I wish the GP had said earlier this year. Although its been a mess since we started the process - I went for my AMH levels and one GP said they were fine and just to carry on trying, whilst another in the background had referred us on to the infertility clinic. You can imagine my shock when I got the letter through after being told everything was ok. I'm glad she did that though, otherwise we would be another 6 months behind in the process.

@Tryingtobepatient001 I bet! We had a nightmare with our initial appointment from the GP to the gynae, I was told the referral would be done and as I hadn't heard anything for 4 months I thought I'd ring and check everything was okay to which they said it was and the referral had been sent to then be told (after triple checking) my notes had been filed away before the referral was sent and it had only been done when I rang to check everything! Honestly if the stress of TTC isn't hard enough we have to deal with everything else in-between too😂x

@HopeHopeandmoreHope how frustrating! That's not good at all 😡
Hows your OH with everything? Mine is so relaxed its annoying haha! I wish he was helping drive things forwards a bit more...

@Tryingtobepatient001 exactly the same! He's very laid back, I don't think it will really hit him until we start the process, I'm like a mad woman researching and reading up on things whereas he hasn't really read anything and I'm not 100% convinced he even know what IVF entails, he'll soon learn when my hormones are all over the places haha!! X

hahaha oh god! To be an oblivious man right??? I've told mine he will have to inject me when we do start IVF, he had no idea what I was going on about.

@Tryingtobepatient001 I'm glad it's not just mine haha!! I said to him you'll have to inject me and he's like no chance I'm scared of needles, I'm like hun I'm the one taking the jab haha!! You'll have to let me know how you get on with you GP x

@HopeHopeandmoreHope I've managed to get on the request system this morning and have asked the question, so lets see what they come back with. If they drag their feet, I guess I'll chase up St Marys and try and push for our consultation with them, but I'd prefer to go with one of the others if possible. The fact that I called SM about 10 times yesterday and just couldn't get through doesn't fill me with confidence!

@Tryingtobepatient001 fingers crossed! X