COUPLES trying for a baby in Chelmsford will be unable to get IVF treatment on the NHS.

The Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group has voted to change its policy, meaning from now on it will only fund fertility treatment in “extreme circumstances”.

Only those with cancer or couples where the male is HIV positive will be eligible for treatment in the shake-up.

The change in policy is anticipated to save the CCG £550,000 a year.

Dr Caroline Dollery, chairman of the group, said: “It has been an incredibly tough decision for the board to make.”

Until now, the Mid Essex CCG had offered up to three full cycles of IVF, as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), should patients meet criteria.

This included couples having been unable to conceive after a year of unprotected sex.

The CCG had considered continuing to offer specialist fertility services, but restricting females to receiving just one full cycle of IVF.

This, too, was rejected and now these treatments will only be offered in extreme cases.

The move, agreed last week, comes despite a consultation on changes to the way the CCG funds fertility services which found less than three per cent of people actually agreed the option to only offer treatment in exceptional cases was right.

Andy Glew, the director of Simply Fertility, based in Chelmsford, said: “This is a devastating blow for which I am sure there will be an outcry.

“It seems absolutely inhuman that this decision is all about saving £500,000, a saving which can disappear overnight with just one set of triplets delivered by a desperate couple seeking treatment.”

Dr Dollery added: “We are aware this will be a huge disappointment for people affected by fertility issues in mid–Essex.

“We have made a commitment to review the decision again in September 2015.”