COUPLES struggling to conceive will be limited to two cycles of IVF on the NHS in Scotland in an attempt to drive down waiting lists, with obese women to be barred from receiving the fertility treatment.

The new Scotland-wide policy, which aims to iron out different conditions for IVF patients across individual health boards, will come into effect from July 1.

Three cycles have been available to couples living in a number of boards in the past, but two cycles of IVF or ICSI – a separate fertility treatment where sperm is injected directly into the egg – will now be offered to women aged up to 40, with women aged 40 to 42 eligible for one cycle as long as they have never previously undergone the procedure.

The guidelines also stipulate that both partners, if smokers, must have given up cigarettes for at least three months before beginning treatment and that the couple must have been in a stable relationship for at least two years.

Obese women – those with a body mass index of 30 or over – and smokers of either sex will be placed on a holding list until they have lost weight or given up cigarettes.

A new waiting target of a year is expected to be met by the end of March 2015, with regional variations in waiting times expected to be stamped out as a result of the new policy.

Potential patients living in NHS Grampian can currently wait three years and eight months for treatment, compared to virtually no wait in the Borders.

Boards where three cycles were offered include Highland, Tayside, and Ayrshire and Arran. Couples in Glasgow, Lothian and Fife boards are among those already being offered two.

Fertility treatment will become "fairer and faster" under the new policy and comes after recommendations by National Infertility Group, a panel of infertility experts, health board representatives, the Infertility Network, and the Scottish Government.

Public Health Minister Michael Matheson said: "Currently the service and criteria offered to women varies across the country. This is not acceptable. For the first time NHS provision of IVF will not vary, regardless of where you live.

"All patients in Scotland will have access to a more generous and fairer service than elsewhere in UK."

The report also suggests eligible patients may be offered up to three cycles where there is a reasonable expectation of a live birth, but the cap should be set at two until reasonable waiting times are established across Scotland.

Couples must also abstain from illegal and abusive substances, be methadone free for at least one year and not drink alcohol prior to or during the treatment period.

Ian Crichton, chairman of the National Infertility Group, said their recommendations balanced the needs of couples and the resources available.

He added: "Failure not only impacts on NHS cost effectiveness, it has a huge emotional impact on those involved. Our recommendations will significantly improve the likelihood of a healthy birth, with all the associated benefits that accrue."

In Scotland, around 3.5% of all first births are as a result of IVF treatment. At the current average working estimate of £3600 per cycle, the average cost per live birth is £12,325 for women below the age of 35, rising to £19,360 for women aged 38 to 39.

Gwenda Burns, of support group Infertility Network Scotland, said: "It is crucial that we have Scotland-wide criteria that will deliver prompt investigations followed by appropriate treatment within a time frame that ensures the optimum chance of success for the patient."

Professor Richard Fleming, director of the private Glasgow Centre for Reproductive Medicine, said the improvements were a great step forward. He added figures showed the chance of having a baby through fertility treatment dropped by 33% between the age of 38 and 40, so to cut the waiting time limit to 12 months would avoid "destructive" delays that reduced a woman's chance of having a baby.