A woman denied sterilisation on the NHS because she might regret it, while men were freely given vasectomies, has won her case with the health ombudsman.
Leah Spasova, a psychologist from Oxfordshire, spent a decade fighting to obtain female sterilisation at her local trust.
She was denied the procedure, which blocks or seals the fallopian tubes to prevent pregnancy, with the care board citing potential regret and costs as its reasoning.
Now the health ombudsman has found in her favour and criticised the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board for its inconsistent approach.
The investigation found that the ICB had denied women NHS funding based on the risk of ‘regret’ while not applying the same a criterion to vasectomies.
It concluded the policy was unfair as well as inconsistent and based on subjective reasoning.
The PHSO also found that the ICB used cost-effectiveness arguments inconsistently, with male sterilisation recommended for funding without updated cost data.
Ms Spasova said the policy was ‘absolutely discriminatory’.
Psychologist Leah Spasova spent a decade fighting to obtain female sterilisation at her local trust while men were freely given vasectomies
She said: ‘Someone else is making decisions about your body based on criteria you can’t even see.
‘Policies like this are damaging for women’s healthcare and women’s access to health services – it’s absolutely discriminatory.
‘There is continuing widespread inequality in how permanent contraception is accessed, with concerns about fairness and respect for women’s bodily autonomy remain unresolved.’
The ombudsman has recommended that the ICB write to Ms Spasova to acknowledge its failings and also said there ‘may be similar wider problems’ in multiple areas of the NHS.
Paula Sussex, of the PHSO, said: ‘The issue highlighted in Leah’s case about the commissioning and managing of services by ICBs is not an isolated one.
‘We are concerned that there may be similar wider problems affecting multiple areas of healthcare, and we have concerns that the system is not consistently meeting people’s needs and is letting patients down.
‘Our data has highlighted that there are often unclear explanations of treatment or diagnosis within the NHS, confusing pathways, a lack of updates while patients wait for care, and poorly communicated changes to provision.
‘This case shows the power of the patient voice. Leah complained about her experience and the ICB is now reviewing its sterilisation policy.’