Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that vaginal mesh implant procedures do not result in removal surgery.

A national pause was introduced in 2018 for the use of vaginally inserted mesh to treat prolapse and the use of a retropubic sub-urethral mesh sling to treat stress urinary incontinence. Conditions were put in place for this pause, and NHS England continues to monitor the progress on meeting these conditions.

In response to the recommendations from the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety review, the Department and the National Health Service have taken steps to improve the collection and monitoring of outcome data. The Pelvic Organ Prolapse and Stress Urinary Incontinence registry will be launched in early 2025. NHS England is extending the registry to be United Kingdom-wide and improving the recording of patient outcomes and experience. The Department has also commissioned, through the National Institute for Health and Care Research, a £1.56 million study to develop a patient reported outcome measures for prolapse, incontinence, and mesh complication surgery. This will improve collection of short- and long-term data on patient outcomes.

To provide support for women who have experienced complications from pelvic mesh implants, NHS England has established nine specialist mesh centres across England. These ensure that women in every region of England 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. As health is a devolved matter, these centres do not cover Northern Ireland.