Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Patient Safety Commissioner's report entitled The Hughes Report: Options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh, published on 7 February 2024, what estimate his Department has made of (a) the number of families affected, (b) the total cost of interim payments and (c) the projected cost of a main payment and care plan as outlined in that report; and if he will publish his Department’s analysis of those figures.

The Government is carefully considering the work by the Patient Safety Commissioner and her Report, which set out options for redress for those harmed by valproate and pelvic mesh. This is a complex issue involving input from different government departments. The Government will provide a further update to the Patient Safety Commissioner’s Report.