The government today opened the door for more women to receive IVF treatment on the National Health Service.

One in seven couples have problems conceiving, but at the moment access to treatment on the NHS remains limited.

Under the new proposals all women under the age of 40 will be entitled to one IVF cycle on the NHS.

The measures stop short of the three cycles recommended by a report from the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).

Dr John Reid, the health secretary, said this morning that widening access to IVF from April next year would be an important first step in helping couples to conceive.

“This will mean that thousands more couples should be able to have fertility treatment on the NHS whilst enabling the NHS to manage this in a realistic way,” he said.

“In the longer term I would expect the NHS to make progress towards full implementation of the NICE guidance.”