Technical issues have arisen related to the tendering process to set up the Fertility Laboratory for IVF services and as a consequence this, the setting up of the Phase 2 PPP Service at MDH will have to be delayed, the Health Ministry said this evening.
It is envisaged that a new call for application will be issued again. Nevertheless, the service will still be provided immediately through a reimbursement system to couples who were vetted by the Fertility Clinic at MDH in 2013, the ministry said.
Such reimbursement will continue until the time that the Phase 2 PPP Service at Mater Dei Hospital is in place.
Reimbursement claims would only be accepted from couples who have been screened by the MFH’s specially appointed Gynaecology and Obstetrics Specialist and additionally who have been deemed to be eligible by the EPA.
All other procedures to set up the IVF Unit, such as structural changes and capacity building of staff to work in the unit, will still continue with no change in timeline. Also training of nurses and counseling staff by BICA (British Infertility Counselling Association) will be held as agreed in the third week of November 2013.
A new call for tendering for Phase 2 is being issued immediately, the ministry said.
The first part of the service has however started to be offered as from 1 November.
The couples who have been referred to the Fertility Clinic at the Gynaecology and Obstetrics Department at Mater Dei Hospital by their Gynaecologist / Family Doctor for this specialised treatment have already started to undergo the process of screening.
Now prioritisation screening by a team including a Gynaecology and Obstetrics Specialist along with an independent retired gynaecologist will be initiated to ensure full transparency and most relevantly equity in this process. This will ensure that screening proceeds according to their eligibility by the Embryo Protection Authority (EPA) as per protocol and guidelines of the same Authority. (These protocol and guidelines have been laid on the table of the House of Representatives on Tuesday 22nd October 2013).
During their clinical consultation at the Fertility Clinic, the referred couples have already started to undergo the necessary free investigative tests/procedures as needed. Couples will also be receiving free Infertility Counselling prior to the procedure as stipulated by the Embryo Protection Act and for that matter even throughout the process in the interest of the child’s and couple’s welfare.