Incontinence

Chris Vince Excerpts

Thursday 19th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Chris Vince (Harlow) (Lab/Co-op)]

I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley (Sonia Kumar) on securing this important debate. It is great to have her experience of having worked as an NHS physio in the Chamber and she brings a unique perspective to the issue. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton West (Warinder Juss) for mentioning the pelvic mesh scandal. Soon after my election as MP for Harlow, a number of women who are victims of the pelvic mesh scandal came to see me. Now, over a dozen women have approached me about it, and that is just in the Harlow constituency, so that gives us an idea about the huge number of women who have been affected by this terrible scandal.

I do not want to focus on the pelvic mesh scandal alone, not least because my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton West did it far more justice than I would. Whether people are the victim of a national scandal or they have bladder and bowel issues for any of the other reasons that my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley mentioned, nobody should be made to feel embarrassed. Talking to the women who were victims of the pelvic mesh scandal, I was struck by the journey they went on. When they initially had bladder and bowel problems, they felt really embarrassed, and it was only when they got to the point where they were in almost constant pain did they feel that they could come forward. What a terrible situation for people to be so embarrassed that they feel that they cannot come forward to the GP. We have to end that stigma.

I was not going to do so, but as we are in a safe space, I have decided to mention my own experience of suffering from IBS as a young person. It was almost a joke when we went on holiday—“We must make sure we are near a toilet so that Chris can go.” Actually, that should not be a stigma; it is a medical condition and people should understand it, support it and give others the support to deal with it.

To show solidarity with those who suffer from bladder and bowel issues, urinary incontinence impacts an estimated 14 million in the UK. As many Members have said already, if people suffer from such issues, they should not think that they are the only person to be suffering from them. A quick maths calculation tells me that that equates to roughly 20,000 people per constituency, so a significant number of our constituents will suffer from those issues. The cost to the NHS to deal with these issues is roughly £5 billion a year, and I wonder whether that bill would come down if we gave confidence to people who suffer from them to come forward sooner.

I have alluded to some of the symptoms, but there is a loss of dignity and independence, and a sense of social isolation. My hon. Friend the Member for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours) mentioned people who no longer go out because they are embarrassed—what a terrible situation for them to be in, and one that is entirely avoidable, if we could help to reduce the embarrassment and stigma that people feel.

I join my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley in asking the Minister about the collection of data on those impacted by the issue and supporting the need for a public health campaign. I thank the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) for mentioning stomas. A young friend has a stoma and, having spoken to her about it, I am sure she would welcome ending the stigma associated with that.

I want to briefly mention women’s health. I recognise the vital contribution made by the hon. Member for Dumfries and Galloway (John Cooper) about the impact on men, but I welcome the fact that Health Ministers in this Government have championed the importance of health equality. I hear a number of stories from women in Harlow who feel that they are not taken seriously, and I hope that we can address that and that the Minister will respond to that in her summing up.

Finally, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Dudley for bringing this hugely important debate to the House. I agree with sentiments raised by Members from across the House that this is the first step in ending the stigma. I hope we can work together to end the stigma and embarrassment; I know that this is just the start.