Luton patients waiting up to 33 weeks to access NHS fertility support

Research into NHS data has revealed huge discrepancies in the time it takes to access NHS fertility services in England.

In a league table Luton scored joint 9th with Southall and Nottingham on GP referral times, with patients having to wait on average 33 weeks from being referred by their GP to receiving fertility treatment, whereas people in Northampton were waiting 21 weeks on average.

The average wait time in England is 40 weeks but Hemel Hempstead came at the bottom with an average wait of 62 weeks, more than a year,

The study was based on data collected from 550 NHS fertility clinics, analysing GP referral times, patient ratings, number of clinics per person, and waiting times for egg and sperm donors.

The research, carried out by My Expert Midwife, has revealed that Northampton is among the cities with the best access to fertility services.