FOI 2026/1803

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000, I would be grateful if you could provide the following information relating to fertility services commissioned by your ICB during the following time periods, beginning 1st April 2023;

(If you can’t provide all the information, please provide anything you are able to. If some of the data will take more than 14 days to provide, we would be grateful if you could share in batches as it becomes available).

• 2023/24
• 2024/25
• 2025/26 (if available)

1. Has the ICB undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment relating to its fertility policy? Please provide a copy of the ICB’s current fertility policy.
2. What was the average waiting time:

1. from GP referral to first fertility appointment?
2. from fertility clinic assessment to commencement of IVF/ICSI/IUI treatment?

1. What was the total spend on fertility services for those periods?
2. Please provide:

1. the number of Individual Funding Requests (IFRs) relating to fertility treatment received for those periods;
2. the number approved,
3. the number declined,
4. and, where recorded, the primary reasons for declined requests.

1. Please list any specific services relating to male infertility that the ICB has commissioned, including diagnostic testing or sperm retrieval procedures.
2. How many declined fertility-treatment IFRs were subsequently reconsidered, appealed, or overturned, and what were the principal reasons for the original decision being changed?
3. For fertility-related IFRs please provide anonymised aggregate data showing approvals and declines by age, sex, ethnicity, disability status, sexual orientation, relationship status, and family type (e.g. opposite-sex couple, same-sex couple, single person), where recorded.
4. Please provide the number of staff hours or costs associated with administering fertility IFRs.
5. Please share evidence/reporting of where/how you’ve modelled the impact of implementing the latest national fertility recommendations.
6. Please provide copies of any Board papers discussing fertility service provision, affordability, or service restrictions.

If any part of this request is likely to exceed the appropriate cost limit, please advise how the request may be refined.

1. Please see attached copies. One for the Assisted Conception Commissioning Statement the other for the harmonisation of the number of IVF Cycles.

**PDF documents were sent to the requester with this response.  If you require a copy of the full response, together with the attachments, please contact NHS GM’s FOI team – nhsgm.foi@nhs.net **

2. NHS GM does not hold this information. Therefore, it will be necessary for you to contact the commissioned providers directly for the information you seek. To assist you please find below links to their websites.

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

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

Fertility Treatments & IVF Specialists UK | CREATE Fertility

Contact Our Expert Team – Get In Touch | Care Fertility

3. The ICB only centrally holds activity and spend data from 1st April 2023 onwards for all IVF providers and holds no activity data prior to its establishment in the financial year of 2022/23. Prior to 2023/24 backing data was held separately and in different formats, meaning consistent data is not available. Since then, activity and spend is recorded based on NHS financial years which run from April to March the annual spend is broken down by NHS financial year.

Due to delays in receiving backing data from non-NHS providers their included annual spend for 2025-26 is based on a forecast derived from activity seen April 2025 – September 2025.

4. Please note that an IFR is not required if the individual meets the criteria for treatment within the commissioning statement. Below are the number of IFR requests received by the GM IFR Service during the dates requested.

4a.

4b.

4c.

Please note – NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) does hold the information requested however, due to the low numbers involved (where patient data is 5 or less <5) we consider this to be exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the disclosure of this information may lead to the identification of individuals. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.

4d.

5. NHS GM commissions diagnostic testing from its acute providers. For further details of the types of test, it will be necessary for you to contact each provider directly for the information you seek. To assist you please find links to their websites below.

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

Create Fertility – Fertility Treatments & IVF Specialists UK | CREATE Fertility

Care Fertility – Contact Our Expert Team – Get In Touch | Care Fertility

6.

Please note – NHS Greater Manchester (NHS GM) does hold the information requested however, due to the low numbers involved (where patient data is 5 or less <5) we consider this to be exempt under section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 as the disclosure of this information may lead to the identification of individuals. This exemption is not subject to the public interest test.

7. This information is not routinely recorded when funding requests are received.
8. The IFR Team don’t record this.
9. The Greater Manchester Assisted Conception Commissioning Statement is being scheduled for review following the release of the NICE Guideline NG257 Fertility Problems: Assessment and Treatment which was released on 31 March 2026.
10. Please see 2026-21-01-greater-manchester-integrated-care-board-meeting-papers.pdf