Meeting of the Parliament 24 October 2023
I thank Jackson Carlaw for his intervention, and I recognise the fantastic work that he has done in supporting women in this situation.
Women have the option to choose an independent surgeon to remove mesh, but I absolutely understand his point about trust, having heard about that directly. We are focused on finding solutions to rebuild that trust, and that is what we learned from Professor Britton’s report.
The service continually reviews its operations and listens to patients to ensure that it is getting it right. The Glasgow service is part of a United Kingdom-wide network of 10 specialist mesh centres. It will be a key partner in the development of a pelvic floor register, one of Professor Britton’s recommendations to which the Government has committed. Further recommendations address training and information for general practitioners and surgeons, and the Government has already acted on those. A training package that is intended to help GPs to feel more confident in supporting women with mesh complications can now be accessed through the NHS Scotland online learning service. The Government continues to make progress with partners to support the development of a General Medical Council-regulated credential in mesh surgery, and we know that clinicians in Scotland are keen to take part in a pilot stage.
I return to the observations that the review offered about the accuracy of some medical records that it examined. As I said at the outset, the Scottish Government has had no access to any records and no contact with any patients as part of the review. Nevertheless, the chief medical officer has taken careful note of the findings and, with significant concern, he notes observations around consent and record keeping. As a consequence, Professor Sir Gregor Smith has now written to all health boards to draw their attention to the report of the review and to the failings that it identified. It is clearly unacceptable that any medical records in Scotland might, in the words of the review,
“not bear any reflection to the surgery that had occurred, nor its outcomes.”
I am very sorry, on behalf of the Government, that those failings happened.
As the review fairly reports, the failings might not have come to light without it being commissioned. Both the chief medical officer and I have great confidence in the professionalism and dedication of doctors across Scotland, but we also look to all in our NHS to take careful note of the report and to reflect anew on how everyone acts to maintain the highest standards of professional practice.
I conclude by repeating the welcome that I offered earlier of Professor Britton’s report, along with the Government’s thanks. Importantly, I thank the women who were able to share their experiences and be heard.
The report and its recommendations put new and welcome focus on what is already an important agenda for the Government. We want women to feel empowered and encouraged to ask questions, to share concerns and expectations about their care and to be treated at all times with dignity and respect. The NHS should continually reinforce good practice in confirming and recording consent in the treatment that is offered to patients.
I move,
That the Parliament welcomes the report of the independent Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review; acknowledges the severe and painful complications endured by women after the implantation of transvaginal mesh and regrets that their trauma may have been exacerbated by initial service responses that doubted their lived experiences; notes the continuing improvement in support, informed by the views of affected women, offered by the specialist mesh surgical service at the New Victoria Hospital in Glasgow in particular and NHS Scotland in general, in ways well aligned with the recommendations of Professor Britton’s review; further notes the Chief Medical Officer’s request of NHS boards to sustain good practice in the seeking and recording of patients’ informed consent and to be assured locally that affected women are able to access the national mesh removal referral pathway, and supports the Scottish Government’s continuing commitment to offering women a choice of surgeon, if mesh removal surgery is considered appropriate, and to reimbursing women who had previously arranged qualifying mesh removal surgery privately.
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