Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will publish current waiting lists totals at each of the mesh removal centres set up following the publication of the Cumberlege report; and whether mesh-damaged women are given an option to attend mesh removal centres other than ones led by surgeons who implanted their mesh originally.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

Tackling waiting lists is a key part of our Health Mission and we are taking steps to return to the 18-week standard. The Elective Reform Plan sets out how the National Health Service will reform elective care services to meet the 18-week referral to treatment standard by March 2029.

There are nine specialist mesh centres across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management and psychological support. NHS England publishes data on referral to treatment waiting times, which is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/rtt-waiting-times/

Data is published at the level of specialties, for example gynaecology, and is not routinely published at sub-speciality level. The most recent waiting time data held by NHS England from 2024 indicated that the average waiting time across the nine centres was 28 weeks.

The surgery to remove mesh implanted for stress urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse is a relatively new surgical discipline. Expertise is, therefore, concentrated in a limited number of specialist centres led by a core multi-disciplinary team, including consultant specialists in urogynaecology, urology, and pain management. Patients, when requesting treatment for mesh complications, can exercise patient choice and be referred to another centre, ensuring that they can be seen by another surgeon where appropriate.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to commission (a) research into, and (b) training programmes for, improved techniques for removal of failed pelvic mesh implants from injured women including those removal methods developed in Missouri by Dr Dionysios Veronikis currently unavailable in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), is currently funding research to develop a patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery. This will enable women to self-report the ways in which any surgical treatment for these conditions, mesh and non-mesh related, has affected their quality of life. Once testing of the PROM is completed, women will be able to complete it as part of their care. It will also be suitable for use by national registries and with women taking part in clinical trials. The NIHR continues to welcome funding applications for research into any aspect of women’s health, including pelvic mesh.

NHS England has established nine specialist mesh centres across England, ensuring that women in every region with complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse get the right support. Each mesh centre is led by a multi-disciplinary team to ensure patients get access to the specialist care and treatment that they need, including pain management and psychological support.

The National Health Service’s service specification sets out the standards of care expected from organisations funded by NHS England to provide specialised care. The specification for complications of mesh inserted for urinary incontinence, vaginal or internal, and external rectal prolapse states that specialised mesh centres must use trust appraisal systems to ensure that surgeons are appropriately trained, current in their practice, that they adhere to clinical and NICE guidance, comply with Pelvic Floor Registry data requirements, and report complications. The service specification is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/publication/specialised-services-for-women-with-complications-of-mesh-inserted-for-urinary-incontinence-and-vaginal-prolapse-16-years-and-above/

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 27 February 2025 to Question 32906 on Government Department: Telephone Services, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the removal of dedicated telephone numbers from the List of Ministerial Responsibilities on the ability of hon. Members to speak to staff in Ministers' private offices; and whether the default method of corresponding by email is the only option now available to hon. Members.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

Departments publish email addresses as the first means of contacting Ministers. All departments have processes to ensure correspondence via email reaches the intended Minister or team in a rapid manner, meaning there should be no reduction in the ability of MPs to contact Ministers' private offices. MPs may, in any such email correspondence, request a phone call with a departmental official or a member of the Minister's private office.

Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the oral contribution of the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, on 13 January 2025 on Artificial Intelligence Opportunities Action Plan, Official Report, column 61, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the (a) development and (b) deployment of AI tools to respond to emails sent to Ministers on the ability of hon. Members to hold Governments to account.

Answered by Abena Oppong-Asare - Parliamentary Secretary (Cabinet Office)

The Government continues to consider the use of artificial intelligence in all Government services. The potential impacts of using these tools in responding to correspondence from Parliamentarians and members of the public, and the implications for the function of correspondence to hold the Government to account, will form part of the Government’s ongoing considerations.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many legal cases brought against the NHS by mesh-damaged women have been settled (a) in and (b) out of court in each of the past ten years.

Answered by Ashley Dalton - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

NHS Resolution (NHSR) manages clinical negligence and other claims against the National Health Service in England, and while the information is not available in the format requested, they have provided the data below. This information only covers England and not the rest of the United Kingdom, and NHSR has interpreted ‘in court’ as being where the court proceedings have been served, rather than where a case has gone to trial.

Claims notified and open are not guaranteed to be settled in the same year and can take many years to be concluded. Claims notified in any given year will often relate to incidents that have occurred many years prior. Claims closed and settled in one year will often relate to claims notified in different years. Many of the claims notified will have been repudiated and settled without damages paid.

It is also possible that the same claim may appear more than once in a dataset, across different year groups, for example, where the case has been closed as unsuccessful, challenged, reopened, and closed again at conclusion.

The following table shows the number of clinical claims and incidents received between the financial years 2014/15 and 2023/24, where the claim has been identified as a vaginal mesh claim:

Source: NHSR

In addition, the following table shows the number of clinical claims settled between the financial years 2015/16 and 2023/24 with a damages payment, where the claim has been identified as a vaginal mesh claim, broken down by litigation status:

Source: NHSR

Finally, the following table shows the number of clinical claims settled between the financial years 2015/16 and 2023/24 with no damages paid, where the claim has been identified as a vaginal mesh claim, broken down by litigation status:

Source: NHSR

Notes: NHSR has supressed low figures as NHSR believe that disclosure of information to a member of the public would contravene one or more of the data protection principles. In some instances, for low numbers of claims, namely fewer than 5, in each category, the likelihood exists that individuals who are the subject of this information may be identified. As this information is sensitive personal data, NHSR believes it has a greater responsibility to protect those individuals’ identities, as disclosure could potentially cause damage and/or distress to those involved. Due to small numbers in the tables, NHSR has used a ‘#’ symbol in the relevant field.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) restrictions on freedom of movement and (b) other preventative measures are placed on migrants who have (i) arrived in the UK illegally and (ii) been identified as supporters of foreign terrorist organisations.

Answered by Angela Eagle - Minister of State (Home Office)

We have a range of powers at our disposal including prosecution, detention and removal and will not seek to hesitate to use those, as appropriate, against individuals who arrive here illegally and seek to threaten the security of our country.

Found: Browne of Ladyton; Bill Esterson; Baroness Fall; Lord Hutton of Furness; Baroness Kidron; Sir Julian Lewis

Found: Browne of Ladyton; Bill Esterson; Baroness Fall; Lord Hutton of Furness; Baroness Kidron; Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _98 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: James Cleverly Helen Hayes Antonia Bance Naz Shah Dame Meg Hillier Paulette Hamilton Sir Julian Lewis

Found: 4 _98 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: James Cleverly Helen Hayes Antonia Bance Naz Shah Dame Meg Hillier Paulette Hamilton Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _97 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _97 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _97 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _97 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _97 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: by Kirsty Blackman, Pete Wishart, Graham Leadbitter, Liz Saville Roberts, Brian Leishman, Sir Julian Lewis

Found: James Cleverly Helen Hayes Antonia Bance Naz Shah Dame Meg Hillier Paulette Hamilton Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _95 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis

Found: James Cleverly Helen Hayes Antonia Bance Naz Shah Dame Meg Hillier Paulette Hamilton Sir Julian Lewis

Found: _95 Mr James Cleverly Antonia Bance Paulette Hamilton Danny Kruger Ms Diane Abbott Sir Julian Lewis