Report to the People
25th June 2007
Fertile Ground for a Scandal
You do wonder
what’s going on when, on the one hand, hardworking couples in a loving, stable
relationship are being denied fertility treatment and, at the same time, public
money is being spent to help bring children into the chaotic world of
drug-addiction.
I imagine
that, like me, you had to pick your jaw up off the floor when you read that drug
addicts have received fertility treatment on the NHS.
Given the impoverished, dangerous and short lives which we know the
children of drug addicts are likely to lead, why on earth would taxpayers’
money be spent condemning more children to this fate?
It was a
question I put to NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde bosses.
How, I wondered, are decisions on who gets fertility treatment taken?
The medical establishment is quick enough to look at whether you’re
overweight or a smoker, but do they test for drug use?
Do they look at applicants’ social work or police reports?
To its
credit, the health board has moved quickly and has launched a high-level
investigation into fertility services. But
Greater Glasgow and Clyde shouldn’t be left to wrestle with this on its own.
Proper,
nationwide guidance needs to be put in place urgently and I have questioned the
Executive about whether it will reassess the rules governing access to NHS
fertility services. If such
guidelines are not forthcoming, then, at the very least, the lessons which
emerge from the work being done in Glasgow must be implemented right across
Scotland.
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