Meeting of the Parliament 24 October 2023
I start by paying tribute to the tireless campaigning of mesh-injured women. It is their campaigning that has been the driving force for much of the progress that we have seen on transvaginal mesh. The independent reviews, the creation of the complex mesh surgical service and the reimbursement scheme are all testament to their efforts.
That is one of the reasons why it is so disappointing that many of those women continue to experience so many problems in accessing the medical care that they need. Some have shared publicly their experience in dealing with GPs who still lack basic knowledge and understanding of the complications arising from transvaginal mesh implants. Others have spoken about the long referral times in order to access care and support at the complex mesh surgical service. Women who have been referred to the complex mesh surgical service have also described the lack of a full range of treatment and support options, and women who have had mesh surgically removed have spoken about the lack of aftercare support in relation to their mental health and the trauma that they have endured.
According to Professor Britton, whose initial report on the issue was published back in 2018, the Scottish Government has yet to act on her recommendations. That has been said a number of times in this debate. In her second report, which was published earlier this year, Professor Britton made a series of recommendations to improve the healthcare experience of mesh-injured women. Those recommendations include improving support mechanisms for women who wish to raise concerns with their GP following transvaginal mesh surgery, the creation of a mesh register to keep track of surgeries that have been carried out, and putting patient consent at the heart of healthcare. Labour urges the minister to come forward with recommendations and to deliver. We hope that she is able to give a commitment on that today.
My own office is still receiving new cases from mesh-injured women who are suffering complications and getting in touch. They are currently not getting adequate support from their GP, and they are unaware of the complex mesh surgical service. It is clear that the Scottish Government must do more to support those who are injured and that the issue continues to have an impact on too many lives even after a decade of campaigning by those affected.
The minister will be aware of the work that I have been doing with my constituents Roseanna Clarkin and Lauren McDougall on surgical mesh that is used to treat hernias. Informed consent has been discussed in the debate. Roseanna gave me permission to say that she was told that pig skin, and not the mesh that was used, would be used in her procedure. Such surgical mesh differs from transvaginal mesh, but many people are now suffering from similar complications and life-altering injuries to those that were observed in women who were implanted with transvaginal mesh.
Roseanna and Lauren have a petition before Parliament that calls for an independent review of the use of such mesh and for its use by NHS Scotland to be suspended pending the outcome of that review. I am grateful to the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee for its on-going work on the petition. I know that many of that committee’s members were involved in the initial petitions on transvaginal mesh and recognise the parallels in the experiences of those who have been implanted with surgical mesh to treat hernias.
Despite years of campaigning, Roseanna and Lauren have found the Scottish Government unwilling to engage or failing to take their concerns seriously. The same disregard for the lived experiences of mesh-injured people delayed progress on addressing issues that related to transvaginal mesh. I fear that we are at risk of making the same mistake with surgical mesh that is used to treat hernias.
I therefore very much welcome the fact that the minister recently agreed to meet my constituents and me in the coming weeks to discuss the issue. The need for an urgent independent review could not be clearer, and I hope that the minister will give that further serious consideration.
I previously submitted freedom of information requests to every health board across Scotland in an attempt to establish the scale of the problem with surgical mesh that is used to treat hernias. Many health boards did not hold the requested information or did not respond, but the health boards that did provide information showed the scale of the problem. In NHS Ayrshire and Arran, 8 per cent of patients who were implanted with surgical mesh to treat hernias said that they had complications, and the figure in NHS Lanarkshire was 10 per cent.