2026/1989

I am writing to request information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 about male fertility services commissioned by your board. I am sending the same request to every NHS Care Board and NHS Trust.

Please provide the following, for the calendar years: 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025, and 2026 to date, unless stated otherwise.

1. Your current policy on NHS funded fertility treatment, including the number of IVF cycles funded per couple and the eligibility criteria applied.
2. The number of NHS funded IVF cycles carried out each year, and the total NHS spend.
3. The number of semen analyses carried out in each year, and the median wait in days from GP referral to result.
4. Whether you commission a dedicated male fertility service or male pathway, and the number of men referred to a urologist or andrologist for fertility investigation in each year.
5. The median wait in days from GP referral to first fertility clinic appointment.
6. The size of the urology waiting list in each year, with the number of individuals waiting over 18 weeks for an appointment with a urology department, and the number waiting over 52 weeks, by trust or region.
7. The number of established consultant urologist posts, the number vacant, and the total spend on locum cover in each year.

Where held, please break each figure down by age band (under 30, 31-35, 36-40, 41-45, 46 to 54, 55 to 64, 65 to 74, and 75 and over), by ethnicity, and by index of multiple deprivation decile. If any breakdown is not recorded, please say so.

1. Please see link to NHS GM policies – ‘Assisted Conception and Fertility Preservation’ https://nhsgmgmicbsa.blob.core.windows.net/nhsgmgmicbblobstorage/GMEUR/Commissioning%20Statements/NHSGM%20-%20035.pdf
2. NHS GM does not hold complete data in respect of the numbers of cycles. The total annual spends are shown below.

Please note, NHS GM reports information on a financial year basis (April to march) rather than a calendar year basis.

The data presented includes data for NHS GM (formed on 1^st July 2022) and the 10 predecessor NHS Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs)which formed NHS Greater Manchester (NHS Bolton CCG, NHS Bury CCG, NHS Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale CCG, NHS Manchester CCG, NHS Oldham CCG, NHS Salford CCG, NHS Stockport CCG, NHS Tameside and Glossop CCG, NHS Trafford CCG, NHS Tameside and Glossop CCG and NHS Wigan Borough CCG). Commissioning responsibility for the 10 former CCGs transferred to NHS GM on 1^st July 2022, with the exception of patients registered with a Glossop based GP, for whom commissioning responsibility instead transferred to NHS Derby and Derbyshire ICB.

The spend recorded below includes activity performed by NHS Foundation Trusts. Where this is the case, activity is included at the standard tariff price. However, the actual cost paid by NHS GM may be different, depending on the contractual terms in place with the ICB or predecessor CCGs at the time. This should therefore only be taken as an indicative cost, rather than the actual cost charged to NHS GM.

3. NHS GM does not hold this level of data. The requestor will need to contact the provider direct.
4. NHS GM does not commission a dedicated male fertility service or male pathway
5. NHS GM does not hold this level of data.
6. This is available in the public domain at: Statistics » Referral to Treatment (RTT) Waiting Times
7. NHS GM does not hold this data. The requestor will need to contact providers direct.

Bolton NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of information – Bolton NHS FT (boltonft.nhs.uk)

Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information Requests :: Northern Care Alliance

Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information – Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (mft.nhs.uk)

Stockport NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of information – Stockport NHS Foundation Trust

Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information Requests :: Tameside and Glossop Integrated Care (tamesideandglossopicft.nhs.uk)

Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust – WWL Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust | FOI Disclosure Log

The Christie NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of information disclosure logs (christie.nhs.uk)

Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information :: Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust – Freedom of Information | Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS FT (gmmh.nhs.uk)