1,000 signatures reached
To: Greater Manchester Joint Commissioning Board, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
Keep IVF and Reproductive Medicine Public: Save St. Mary’s DRM Service
We are calling on Greater Manchester health commissioners and Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust to:
1. Commit to a full and transparent public consultation on any potential changes to service delivery, as well as an early acknowledgement that the Public Sector Equality Duty must be considered.
2. Ensure trades Unions are engaged throughout the options appraisal process, alongside local authorities, local politicians who represent the public of Greater Manchester, patients and other stakeholders.
3. Commit to protecting this vital service and keeping our Greater Manchester reproductive medicine and IVF provision within the National Health Service.
Why is this important?
Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust announced to staff in March 2020 that they believe the current model of provision for reproductive medicine at St. Mary’s Hospital is not sustainable. Commissioners are now carrying out a scoping exercise on the service’s future, and this could result in a recommendation the service is tendered and could be at risk of privatisation.
Staff members working for the St Mary’s Reproductive Medicine service provide a vital lifeline to women and families seeking fertility treatment in Greater Manchester. The service also provides specialist care to women with complex medical conditions, cancer, and who are undergoing gender reassignment, which are not accessible elsewhere in the city region or offered by other providers. If privatised, we are concerned that these specialist services could be at risk.
Unions are concerned that many other private sector providers have higher treatment charges and inferior services. Furthermore, staff are in many cases paid less than NHS workers in the private healthcare sector, with less annual leave, sick pay and other essential benefits. We cannot allow this vital service to fall into private hands and be run for profit, when its purpose is to serve the public of our city.