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Which regions have the most NHS-funded IVF cycles?

Which regions have the most NHS-funded IVF cycles?
By Jess Hacker
30 January 2024



The North East of England stands as the region with the greatest rate of NHS-funded IVF cycles compared to privately-funded cycles, new data analysis has shown.

Between 2009 and 2021, 58% of all cycles, or 18,595 cycles, in the region were NHS-funded, with 42% privately funded (13,625).

Healthcare Leader’s analysis of IVF funding data – collected in the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority’s (HFAE) new dashboard – has shown that since 2009 the North East stands as the only region in England which has had more NHS-funded cycles than privately-funded across the period.

The North West follows as the region with the second highest rate of NHS-funded cycles at 47% or 49,885 cycles, while London has the lowest at 24%, or 66,705.

London was also the region with the greatest percentage of privately funded cycles (76%) and had the largest number of cycles overall (283,295). The full breakdown is available below.

RegionNHS-funded cyclesPrivately funded cycles% NHS-funded% privately funded
North East18,59513,6255842
North West49,88555,8304753
East of England21,14029,7554258
West Midlands23,24532,4054258
South West17,60527,5403961
Yorkshire and the Humber20,63532,0803961
East Midlands17,47031,9803565
South East32,96566,0353367
London32,965216,5902476
Source: HFEA Data Dashboard

The data dashboard, which launched today (30 January), is the world’s first of its kind, according to the HFEA, and hold data dating as far back as 1991.

In October, the Government announced that laws preventing people with non-transmissible HIV from accessing IVF treatment and requiring same-sex couples to pay up to £1,000 for safety screenings before accessing IVF will be scrapped.

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