# Todays News



## Guest (Oct 21, 2008)

Anyone seen the lunchtime news
The health minister has allocated and extra £800,000 for IVF.
Apparently it should reduce waiting times by half....   
Brilliant news.

Bumble Bee


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## betty-77 (Mar 13, 2008)

i've just seen this on the bbc website - link posted on main ni girls part 4 website

 

Betty xx


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## glitter girl (Jun 24, 2007)

Girls it is great news that this money may be made available. I really dont want to sound doom and gloom but realistically the problem is that the RFC are short staffed so even if the money is there, the staff are not able to cope with much more than what they are already doing. I was told this at the Craigavon meeting by Ms Karin Jackson herself ( new manager of RFC ) Unless the situation has changed since then and RFC has sorted their staff shortages? I know that RFC have been advertising all over UK for embryologists but have had very few applicants, so there is where the problem lyes.

I noticed it said in that link that this was all being put to public consultation, I wonder how long that usually takes? Anyone any ideas?


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## Lesley08 (May 4, 2008)

Hi ladies,

Public consultation takes a while so i wouldnt realistically imagine that any significant improvements will be seen for a quite sometime. I dont want to put a downer on this for the rest of you but bringing the age limit for egg donor down to 39 is not good news for people in a similar situation to me. I was 38 when I first asked for tests and was practically laughed at as I had already had kids and had a m/c in 2005, as a result it took until feb 08 ( 2 months before my 40th) for me to get the news that i had a high FSH and therefore needed donor eggs. The reason for the cut off of 39 for other forms of IVF is said to be related to success rates however this is not true of donor egg ivf where maternal age has little effect on success as it is the age of the donor ( provided there are no other issues) which is significant. As usual what they give in one hand they take away in the other.

Lesley xx


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## shaz2 (Mar 24, 2006)

although it sounds like good news i would have to agree with lesley, the health minister is robbing peter to pay paul , although it wont effect me in any. i feel for people who are going to be robbed of their chances like lesleys situation...x


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## glitter girl (Jun 24, 2007)

I agree totally, Lesley that is heartbreaking what they put you through, talk about adding salt to the wound.....

As I have already waited almost 2 years for nhs treatment I dont expect that I will benefit from this announcement but I am relieved and happy that unfortunate future couples may not be put through the same agonising wait as most of us have had to endure.

I do think that a regional list is a much fairer way, I hope that the minister implements this. I dont think that it is right that where you live may give you an advantage in waiting terms over someone else who has been waiting longer.


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## Lesley08 (May 4, 2008)

Thanks for the support ladies you are all wee stars   i do think the regional list is a great idea, I had no idea until I came on here that it was different depending on where you lived!!!

Lesley xx


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## Cate1976 (Oct 29, 2007)

The proposal to reduce the age for using donar eggs is the one that concerns me the most. They need to find the £800,000 to get waiting lists down and then look at funding a cycle of FET as well as IVF somehow. The regional list will be fairer though. I'm so glad to live in Western Area, I was so pleased when Dr Williamson said that Western Area list was 4 months.


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## Tearful (Nov 19, 2007)

It does at first sound like great news that they are putting much needed extra money in to a sometimes forgot about health issue and the devasting effects it can have. In an ideal world a maximum 12 month wait would at least able people to try and plan their lives, at least a little around the whole waiting game. Rather than what at the minute feels like russian roulette, especially depending on where you live. I just hope than whenever, what ever gets implemented it doesn't knock people even further down the list especially if they were getting close to the top! It would be soul destroying waiting for something for nearly two years from initial contact with the RFC to get to say maybe a month or two to go (i'm not there yet) and then be told under the new regs that you had another 12 month wait.


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## Cate1976 (Oct 29, 2007)

Good point there Tearful. I'd hope that there would be discussion during consultation about how to make changeover as smooth as possible and work it such that someone near top didn't find themselves having to wait longer.


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## jellybaba (Oct 29, 2008)

Does anyone think it would be a good idea to leave the curent waiting lists as they are ie depending on where you live depends on which list you are on and start up a new single regional waiting list for all new patients from a certain date - maybe 1st Jan 2009?

Just an idea, not sure if it would work or not....


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