FERTILITY treatment funding may not last until the end of this year after it emerged that a significant slice of the IVF treatment budget will now be swallowed up by staff costs that were never properly funded.
Assistant Health Minister Andy Howell confirmed that unless additional money is found, the Island may “run out of money” this year and have to suspend publicly funded IVF treatment until 2027.
“If the predictions are right, we may run out of money in November,” Deputy Howell told the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel.
“We may have to stop the [IVF] service then and get [patients] to wait until January 2027 before they can have their IVF.”
During the quarterly hearing it emerged that, although up to £620,000 was agreed by the States Assembly to cover IVF costs in 2025, the budget failed to include the necessary staffing costs.
As a result, staff from the Assisted Reproduction Unit were redeployed from other services to meet IVF demand.
Deputy Howell said: “Failure to include staff in the 2025 budget has resulted in Assisted Reproduction Unit staff working to meet the IVF demand, and this has had an impact on general gynae, recurrent miscarriage, and other services.”
Health Minister Tom Binet added: “There are no staff in the hospital twiddling their thumbs. When we have to redeploy people, it creates a void.”
Officials now estimate IVF-related hospital staffing costs at around £200,000 per year.
For 2026, a staffing cost of approximately £268,000 is projected – covering nurses, administrative support, consultant time, a middle-grade doctor and counselling provision.
If that cost is met from within the £620,000 originally earmarked for IVF treatment, the service will exhaust its budget far earlier than planned.
Chloe Fosse, founder of local fertility charity Tiny Seeds, said: “These developments significantly reduce the scope to widen access criteria in the near future and also raise concerns that the funding could run out before the end of the year, leading to longer wait times for funded patients.
“Tiny Seeds recognises and values the highly skilled clinical and support staff delivering assisted reproduction services on-Island. Their work is of course, absolutely essential.
“However, redirecting treatment funding to staff costs – particularly without clear data explaining this decision – raises serious questions.”
She called for figures detailing the number of IVF cycles undertaken in 2025, how this compares with previous years, the split between publicly funded and self funded treatment, and the evidence used to forecast a shortfall later this year.
“Without transparency around demand and cost allocation, it is difficult to understand how these decisions have been reached. And, for those self funding fertility treatment, this is yet another blow, with uncertainty around funding adding further distress to an already difficult journey,” she added.
“We want to see clear evidence that public funding is being applied in a way that genuinely benefits the patients it was intended to support.”
It was also confirmed during this week’s Scrutiny hearing that the £280,000 underspend from last year’s IVF budget would not be returned to the scheme.
Finance director Hazel Cunningham said the Public Finance Manual prevents growth funding underspends being carried forward.
The money “must be handed back” at year-end and “cannot be carried forward” into the next financial year, she explained.
Access to publicly funded fertility treatment remains tightly drawn, with restrictions on income, age, previous children, BMI and other health factors.
Ministers warned that widening criteria without new funding would simply mean “running out of money sooner” and creating waiting lists.
After the hearing, Deputy Lucy Stephenson accused the government of shifting its position.
“Another week, another moving of the goal posts on IVF funding from the government. It’s frustrating, disheartening and unfair – most of all for patients,” she said.
She said she left a meeting just days earlier feeling “hopeful” that the £280,000 underspend would help widen access.
Instead, Deputy Stephenson said, £200,000 of the £620,000 funding will be used for staff costs – leaving no room to expand criteria and raising the prospect of treatment being halted.
“It’s time for some transparency – about demand, costs, who is paying what and to whom and from where. Each time I ask I’m not sure I am getting a full and clear picture,” she said.
“Securing the funding to improve access to IVF treatment was supposed to be the battle, not making sure the money allocated actually got spent making a meaningful difference to those who really need it.”
