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 as a result of the pause in the use of surgical mesh and tape procedures future clinical guidelines do not restrict access to less invasive treatment options.

The National Health Service website makes clear that conservative treatments such as pelvic floor exercises and lifestyle changes should be tried before surgery or other procedures to treat patients suffering from stress urinary incontinence or pelvic organ prolapse.

Additionally, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence is in the process of producing guidance entitled ‘Urinary incontinence (update) and pelvic organ prolapse in women: management.’ The draft guideline published on 9 October 2018 states that multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) should ‘review the proposed treatment for all women offered invasive procedures for primary stress UI, OAB or primary prolapse’. MDTs should include a pelvic floor specialist physiotherapist who will be able to advise on alternatives to surgery.

The final guideline is expected to be published in April this year.