Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many women (a) have a PIP breast implant, (b) have been informed that that implant poses a health risks, (c) have been offered a PIP breast implant removal and (d) have had a PIP implant removal by the NHS.

While specific information on the number of women in the United Kingdom currently with PIP breast implants is not held centrally, it is estimated that approximately 47,000 British women received these implants.

In 2010, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) published ‘Silicone gel filled breast implants - advice on clinical management of women with implants’ which provided actions for implanting surgeons to identify women with PIP silicone gel filled implants received after 1 January 2001. In 2012, the MHRA published further advice in ‘Silicone gel filled breast implants - updated information on filler’. Women with PIP implants were advised to speak to their doctor to discuss appropriate action. The National Health Service will remove these implants on agreement with their clinician where it is clinically necessary. Guidance for patients is published at the following link:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/pip-implants/

Data on the number of women contacted by their healthcare professional regarding their implant is not held centrally. The Breast and Cosmetic Implant Registry (BCIR) was created in 2016 and shows that 593 patients had undergone surgery to remove a PIP implant. However, it does not record whether this surgery was funded by the NHS.