Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what estimate he has made of the number of healthcare professionals who (a) are aware of and (b) use the databases of the British Society of Urogynaecology and the British Association of Urological Surgeons to record adverse effects in transvaginal mesh implants.

The Department, NHS England and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) have been working collaboratively to address the serious concerns that have been raised about transvaginal mesh implants. A working group has been set up to discuss these and will cover a range of issues including better collection and coordination of information on patients outcomes including complications, incident reporting and the need for a register. It will also consider how the British Society of Urogynaecology/ the British Association of Urological Surgeons databases can assist in providing information on the use of transvaginal mesh implants, patient outcomes and complications and the use of these databases by professionals. The working group will also look at ways of working with devolved administrations to improve incident reporting to the MHRA and the development of patient consent forms.