Reduced services at IVF clinic set to force patients South

TasIVF's Launceston Fertility Clinic is reducing its services due to what the provider says is a lack of demand.

The clinic will continue to offer patient consultations involving services such as blood and ultrasound monitoring.

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The Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Tasmanian branch said staff were notified of the decision in November by Virtus Health, TasIVF's parent company.

Those workers who were made redundant finished up on December 20, after a transition period wherein they continued to assist existing clients. They are now seeking alternative employment.

TasIVF medical director Bill Watkins said Launceston patients would continue to receive the majority of their care locally but that advanced laboratory procedures such as egg collection and embryo transfer would take place at the Hobart Fertility Clinic from January.

"We have reassured patients personally, who are currently undergoing treatment, of their continuity of care," Dr Watkins said in a statement.

"The decision for these changes was made as there simply isn't the demand to sustain a highly specialised laboratory in Launceston which is why we have invested in the new custom-built day hospital, lab and clinic in Hobart.

"With less services being offered at the Launceston clinic, we have made the difficult decision to undertake a staff restructure."

Dr Watkins said a total of five part-time staff had been "impacted" by the restructure.

ANMF Tasmanian branch secretary Emily Shepherd said staff leave at the clinic during the previous financial year had contributed to a reduction in business; but staff believed this wouldn't have been as significant an issue had the clinic been able to operate at full capacity.

She said the restructure could require patients from the North and North-West to make multiple trips to Hobart in order to access comprehensive IVF services.

"Obviously there's a whole layer of complexity associated with that in terms of ... the cost of travel and also the time associated with that, as well as people needing to take time off work ... for these sorts of things," she said.

"It could end up being cost-prohibitive for some families."

Ms Shepherd said Virtus Health had informed staff who had been made redundant that they would have the opportunity for "redeployment" if positions opened up at the Hobart Fertility Clinic.

These opportunities have been limited so far, according to Ms Shepherd.

A state government spokesperson said the government would work with any private provider who expressed an interest in offering further private IVF services in Northern Tasmania, following the consolidation of services at the existing Launceston clinic.

"We feel for any Tasmanian who loses their employment, especially so close to Christmas, but the government would expect that any entitlements are honoured and hope that organisations work with their employees to help find suitable alternatives," the spokesperson said.