Only couples with 'exceptional circumstances' will be able to get IVF on the NHS

The decision comes after the Mid Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) came under fire for deciding to halt IVF funding for a second year in a row.

Couples will be unable to get IVF treatment after the CCG agreed a further 12-month restriction on funding specialist fertility services. The only way couples can now get financial help is through an individual funding request, where they must sho w exceptional circumstances.

A spokeswoman for the CCG wouldn’t confirm what the guidelines for these circumstances were.

Sarah Norcross, co-chair of patient group Fertility Fairness, said it was “shameful that only the well off” would be able to access treatment without exceptional circumstances.

She said: “Fertility services should be available for everyone eligible for treatment; not just the rich. This is a clear example of health inequality in practice.”

It’s anticipated the halt in funding will save the CCG about £500,000 a year. The CCG says its estimates suggest 80 to 100 women will be affected.

Before the initial decision was taken in September 2014 following a consultation, Mid Essex CCG had offered up to three full cycles of IVF.

Dr Caroline Dollery, chair of Mid Essex CCG, said: “I understand this decision will be disappointing for some of our local population, especially those who were hoping for a lift on the restriction.

“The decisions we are facing this coming year are not easy. We are constantly striving to ensure that our local communities have access to services they need and this has to be balanced against the money available to us.”

Andy Glew, laboratory manager at Simple Fertility, in Chelmsford, a fertility company, condemned the decision too.

He said: “When they first brought about this decision, they said they’d review it down the line, but clearly they haven’t and never intended to.

“Now we’re seeing Basildon and North Essex CCGs doing the same thing because they know Mid Essex got away with it.”