Question
asked Her Majesty's Government:Why the Medical Research Council's provision of financial incentives to partake in the use of human oocytes for somatic nuclear transfer has taken precedence over implementation of the February 2004 National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines regarding National Health Service provision of three in vitro fertilisation cycles to all infertile couples.
Answer
The Medical Research Council (MRC) is an independent body which receives its grant-in-aid from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. It provides funding for research applications submitted by the scientific community, and does not normally commission research to address specific questions. The MRC always judges applications in open competition with other demands on funding taking into account scientific quality and importance to human health. When the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence published the clinical guideline on fertility services in 2004, we made it clear that we expected primary care trusts (PCTs) to move over time to the provision of three cycles of in vitro fertilization as recommended. Decisions on the funding of fertility services are made by PCTs and, with the patient support organisation Infertility Network UK, we are helping them to identify and share best practice in the provision of services.