CHILDLESS couples in East Lancashire could soon be sent to Leeds, Liverpool or Nottingham for fertility treatment on the NHS.

Gynaecologists in Blackburn and Burnley are locked in talks to decide where a second IVF (In-Vitro Fertilisation) contract for infertile couples should be placed.

The deal will supplement the current contract with St Mary's Hospital, Manchester, where most local couples are sent for treatment.

The gynaecologists' preferred options for the new centre of treatment are IVF units in Liverpool, Leeds and Nottingham.

The move by East Lancashire Health Authority is aimed at reducing the number of expensive ECR's (Extra Contractual Referrals) - patients sent out-of-town for treatment. IVF for local childless couples hit the headlines last year when health chiefs decided to ration who they sent for treatment.

In October, East Lancashire Health Authority was forced to suspend further 'assisted conception' referrals because of a cash crisis and soaring demand for treatment.

New eligibility guidelines, similar to those at St Mary's IVF Unit, were also introduced. These included that couples must have lived together for three years, the woman was aged under 40 and there would be a maximum of three cycles of treatment.

About two thirds of couples are currently sent to St Mary's IVF Unit, with the remaining ECR's being sent to other out-of-town hospitals in the UK.

Bev Humphrey, director of strategic planning and contracting for East Lancashire Health Authority, said: "The second contract would give clinicians a choice of centres for IVF."

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