Councillor outlines grief at IVF funding meeting

Norman Plumpton Walsh speaks up for programme after death of twin boys

- BY ELLIOT JESSETT

Cllr Norman Plumpton Walsh (left) at Huytons Municipal Buildings

A GRIEVING father said the heartbreak of losing his two sons is a trauma he feels every day, likening the experience to living in 'hell on earth.

Cllr Norman Plumpton Walsh was speaking about his family’s experience of NHS-funded fertility treatment, in the hope of saving the service from significant cuts.

In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a type of fertility treatment used to help people who have difficulty getting pregnant.

It involves an egg being fertilised by sperm outside of the body in a laboratory to create an embryo, which is then transferred into a uterus to achieve a pregnancy.

The proposal to cut IVF treatments has been put forward by the NHS Cheshire and Merseyside Integrated Care Board (ICB), responsible for planning local NHS services, and would mean everyone in Cheshire and Merseyside who is eligible for IVF would only have one cycle paid for by the NHS.

During a Joint Health Scrutiny Committee, the ICB presented its response to a letter sent by the committee, outlining its concerns about the cuts.

The ICB cited an 'extremely challenging' financial situation and said the cuts would allow it to maintain an 'affordable' fertility service and save approximately £1.3m.