IVF Consultation

We want to make sure that every person who is eligible for NHS-funded IVF treatment across Greater Manchester receives the same number of tries (know as cycles), removing the current inequity.

Following engagement with patients, relevant NHS specialists, partners and stakeholders, we ran a consultation in summer 2025, to hear what Greater Manchester residents thought of the proposed changes.

Over 2,200 people shared their views in a variety of ways. This information will help inform how we standardise the offer and roll out any changes across Greater Manchester.

Why is the treatment being reviewed

Currently, the number of IVF cycles offered to women aged 39 and under across Greater Manchester is different, depending on where their GP practice is.

Engagement staff members sat behind a table with promotional materials for the IVF Cycles consultation.

This means that women living only a few miles apart may be offered different numbers of cycles, from 1 cycle to 2 or 3 cycles.

Things are different across Greater Manchester because the number of cycles were agreed when there were ten different NHS organisations, known as Clinical Commissioning Groups, making the decisions about healthcare. In July 2022, these were replaced by one organisation known as NHS Greater Manchester.

We believe that this isn’t fair and that the policy needed to change to make sure everyone gets the same offer, no matter where in Greater Manchester they live.

Please note that only the number of cycles were being reviewed in the consultation, not the eligibility criteria. More details about who is eligible can be found in the GM Assisted Conception Policy.

To find out more about the consultation, please click on the button below.

Consultation document

A map showing the four affected areas: Salford, Stockport, and Wigan and wigan are reducing from 2 cycles to 1+ cycles and Tameside is reducing from 3 cycles to 1+ cycles.

Who this would affect

Currently, there are nearly 500,000 women aged 20-39 in Greater Manchester. About 1,000 women aged 39 and under and couples currently access NHS funded IVF each year in Greater Manchester. This is about 0.2% of the women aged 20-39.

For people in Salford, Stockport and Wigan, they will go down from the current offer of 2 cycles as standard to 1 cycle, with a second one only available if the first is cancelled or abandoned.

For people in Tameside, they will go down from the current offer of 3 cycles, to 1 cycle, with a second one only available if the first is cancelled or abandoned.

Consultation

The 6-week consultation was to hear the public’s views on whether they agreed on the proposed 1+ cycle across the whole of Greater Manchester.

We explained that we believed that this was a good option because:

It is already the policy for most people.
It will impact on the fewest number of people.
It will create an equal offer across Greater Manchester - Bolton, Bury, Manchester, Oldham, Rochdale and Trafford already have this offer.
It is similar to most of England, creating more equity across the country.
It is affordable now and in the future and does not require any additional funding which may need to be taken from another NHS service.

We also wanted to know how any change to the policy could be implemented fairy, to those already on their IVF journey.

Over 2,200 people engaged with NHS Greater Manchester in a variety of ways, including:

Focus groups
Community workshops
Online survey
Email and WhatsApp message
Pop-up stalls across Greater Manchester.

Person in a hijab holding an IVF postcard in Urdu

What people told us

A number of resources have been developed including a film and summary report which capture some of the views shared by participants, during the consultation.

A copy of the full report is also available.

The consultation feedback was used along with clinical and service evidence to review the proposals and make the final decision.

BSL consultation summary film

Summary consultation report

Full consultation report

To read some of the findings and next steps, click on the drop-down boxes below.

Phases

Phases overview

Phase 1: Consultation information

Consultation information

Phase 2: How people got involved

How people got involved

Phase 3: What people told us

What people told us

Consultation information

24 April 2025 23:00 - 18 June 2025 23:00

Background

We carried out a consultation exercise between 18 June 2025 to 29 July 2025, to hear from members of the public on our plans to standardise the number of NHS funded IVF Cycles available to eligible patients across the whole of Greater Manchester.

To support people to give their views we provided background information including: