I spotted this article last week, should be of interest to lots of people in the southwest.

A new fertility service offering in vitro fertilisation to couples in Kerry has been launched.

Sims@Scotia has been launched by the Scotia Clinic, Tralee, in partnership with the Sims Clinic International.

The Scotia Clinic originally opened in 2002, providing an extensive range of services in pregnancy, antenatal and gynaecology care.

“Since its opening in 2002, I have encountered many couples who have required access to fertility services. To date, this has necessitated people from Kerry and the surrounding region to travel outside the county for the services they require, placing undue pressure and strain in an already challenging situation,” explained Dr Mary McCaffrey, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist at the Scotia Clinic and Kerry General Hospital.

She pointed out that many of these services could have been provided locally.

“With our affiliation with Sims, I am pleased to announce that now, comprehensive fertility services, aside from two visits to Dublin, can be provided in-house by our team of trained clerical staff with the support and assistance of the specialist team at Sims,” Dr McCaffrey said.

The Scotia Clinic will operate as a satellite service of Sims, while continuing to provide its pregnancy and antenatal services.

Commenting on the new clinic, Dr Tony Walsh, director of Sims, insisted that Sims@Scotia would bring ‘the full range of fertility treatments, such as IVF, to the people of Kerry’.

Meanwhile Dr McCaffrey called for a national policy to address the affordability issue of IVF for public patients. She insisted that full access to IVF services should be available to those who require it, regardless of their economic circumstances.

For more information, click on…http://www.scotiaclinic.com/

I 'm sure there are a lot of people from Kerry currently using the clinic in Cork. That's the catch with the new place I guess- although you will be treated locally for most of the time , the trips you do have to make will be longer...no easy answer. I agree absolutely about there being no publicly funded services. I reckon thereare still a lot of funny attitudes arounf to ivf in particular and it's not the easiest thing for the people involved to go publicly campaigning for. At least we've got NISIG!!

G