Mum’s the word for NHS but not at any price

It is hard for anyone who has not walked in their shoes to really understand the torment endured by couples who want children but cannot conceive.

The dashed hopes and growing awareness of time slipping away are a terrible burden to bear month after disappointing month.

For many couples, IVF offers the only hope of starting a family and it is right that our NHS gives as many as possible the best possible chance of having a baby.

But the funding of our National Health Service is a zero-sum game.

If we spend money on one thing, we cannot spend it on another.

Every pound spent on one treatment cannot be spent on another which, to the patients waiting for it, will be just as important, just as potentially life-changing as IVF for childless couples.

It is commendable that Scotland is offering more couples more chances at IVF than anywhere else in Britain.

We should be proud that we are going as far as we can to give people the chance of starting a family. But we must be absolutely sure we are not going further than we should, quicker than we can.

There is no way of knowing how many couples might ask for IVF when rules change next month.

That is a concern at a time when our NHS is facing the same f inancial constraints as every other public service.

At a t ime when repor t s la st week suggested NHS Scotland face £ 400million being cut from their budget, including some “high-risk” savings.

The doctors we speak to today are in the private sector, offering IVF treatment to couples able to pay for it, but their warnings of the impact of the rule changes coming in next month should sound alarm bells.

They fear the NHS may not be able to cope, that couples promised IVF cycles will see their chances of a baby slipping away as they languish on ever-lengthening waiting lists as more couples apply.

It is impossible for anyone to predict with certainty how many couples will seek IVF on the NHS when the guidelines change.

But our health service cannot be asked to sign a blank cheque.

It is only sensible that the guidelines will not change all at once and that there will be a six-month breathing-space before the rules are relaxed again.

That gives our NHS a chance to assess the impact, properly quantify the numbers, forecast future demand and, if necessary, tweak the guidelines again.

It is a chance that should – and must – be taken.

There is no way to know how many couples will ask the NHS for IVF when the rules change