IVF waiting times in Scotland
Quarter ending 30 June 2022

About this release

This release by Public Health Scotland provides an update on how long eligible patients waited from referral to screening appointment for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment by the NHS in Scotland. The standard is for 90% of eligible patients to be screened at an IVF Centre within 52 weeks of receipt of a referral from a secondary care/acute consultant.

Main points

During the quarter ending 30 June 2022:

• 375 patients attended an IVF screening appointment, an 11.1% reduction in comparison with the previous quarter (422 patients). By the end of the quarter, the average number of patients screened each month was similar to the pre-pandemic level during 2019.
• the 90% standard was met, with 99.5% of patients attending a screening appointment within 52 weeks from referral.

This line chart shows: •The number of Referrals (January 18 - June 2022) •The number of eligible patients screened (January 18 - June 2022) • The 12 month average trendline for patients waiting (January 18 - June 2022) •The number of eligible patients waiting for an IVF screening appointment (January 18 - June 2022)

Close

Number of eligible patients referred, screened and waiting to be screened across Scotland, January 2018 - June 2022

• 99.2% of patients waited 39 weeks or less to be screened. Of that, 62.1% were screened within 26 weeks, a greater proportion than in the previous quarter (50.0%).
• 294 patients were referred to IVF Centres, a reduction of 26.1% compared to the previous quarter (398 referrals). By the end of the quarter, average monthly referrals for the period July 2021 - June 2022, were 12.2% fewer than during 2019, prior to the pandemic. The Aberdeen and Edinburgh Centres received more referrals (60.8% and 26.0%), while fewer referrals were received by the Dundee and Glasgow Centres (51.0% and 34.9%).
• 587 patients were waiting for a screening appointment, 16.9% fewer than at 31 March 2022 (706 patients). For the period July 2021-June 2022, the average monthly number of patients waiting was 18.3% more than during 2019, prior to the pandemic. Of the four IVF Centres, only the Glasgow Centre waiting list is higher than their pre-pandemic average.

Further information

The next release of this publication will be 29 November 2022.