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A British woman who was denied permanent birth control through the UK\u2019s national health service on the grounds she might regret the decision has won her case with the country\u2019s health ombudsman after a 10-year battle.<\/p>\n
Leah Spasova, a psychologist from Oxfordshire, spent years trying to obtain sterilization on the NHS when at the same time her health provider funds vasectomies for men.<\/p>\n
The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO), which investigates complaints about the NHS, determined that a local health body was denying women, but not men, funding for sterilization.<\/p>\n
Explaining her reasoning for wanting to get sterilized, Spasova told CNN, \u201cI didn\u2019t want to spend the next 30 years managing side effects from contraception that didn\u2019t work for me, when I had already made an informed decision not to have children.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spasova raised the complaint after she was denied a request for sterilization funding from the Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire West Integrated Care Board (ICB), which covers an area of southern England.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have been enquiring about sterilization for 10 years and was just passed back and forth between services,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen the ICB turned down my request for funding.\u201d<\/p>\n
Conducting her own research into the ICB\u2019s approach, she found the organization \u201cdid not follow the widely recognized principle that clinicians provide advice, but patients ultimately make decisions about their own bodies.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ombudsman determined that the ICB did not routinely fund female sterilization and cited cost concerns and Spasova\u2019s risk of regretting the procedure as reasons for refusing her \u2013 factors not applied to men seeking vasectomies<\/p>\n
\u201cRejecting my application for sterilization on the basis of regret means they were taking on liability for my feelings,\u201d Spasova said.<\/p>\n
The ICB\u2019s approach was unfair, inconsistent, and based on subjective reasoning, the PHSO found.<\/p>\n
It also found that women were not given the same opportunity as men to make an informed decision about sterilization.<\/p>\n
Paula Sussex, the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman, said there were concerns that the health service was letting patients down.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case shows the power of the patient voice. Leah complained about her experience and the ICB is now reviewing its sterilization policy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Spasova described the ICB\u2019s policies as \u201cabsolutely discriminatory.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is continuing widespread inequality in how permanent contraception is accessed with concerns about fairness and respect for women\u2019s bodily autonomy remain unresolved.\u201d<\/p>\n
She said that despite the ruling in her favor, she said the issue was far from resolved. \u201cDespite the investigation, I still haven\u2019t had the procedure \u2014 I\u2019m still expected to apply and justify a decision about my own body.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NHS authority which now oversees health services for those who live in Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, said that it accepts the PHSO\u2019s findings and has introduced a new policy to ensure that patients who meet the criteria are able to access female sterilization.<\/p>\n
Female sterilization involves blocking a woman\u2019s fallopian tubes and is over 99% effective. It is comparable to a vasectomy, a permanent method of male contraception, but female sterilization requires more invasive surgery and is less easy to reverse.<\/p>\n
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