I WISH to clarify comments made by readers in recent letters to The Press (“NHS should be fair and open to all”, August 15 , and “Couples need aid”, August 13).

Decisions regarding which NHS services are provided locally are made by the commissioners, and for York this is the Vale of York Clinical Commissioning Group. It is they who pay for local health services, and it is they who have to make the decision whether or not a service (for example IVF) is provided on the NHS for people in York.

It is not the decision of the hospital trust, as some readers have suggested. The hospital trust can only provide the services that it is paid to provide.

Patrick Crowley, Chief Executive, York Hospital, Wigginton Road, York.