The government has rejected calls to ban vaginal mesh implants after MPs debated its use to treat women affected by pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence following childbirth.
Women's health
Labour MP Emma Hardy led the debate after hearing from women who have been affected by the devices. Hardy first heard about the mesh implants from a constituent who was left unable to work after having the device fitted.
Hardy called the debate ‘crucial’ for those affected and asked the government to do four things:
- Commit to a full retrospective and mandatory audit of all interventions that involved mesh, followed by a full public inquiry.
- Suspend prolapse and incontinence mesh operations while the audit is being carried out.
- Bring the NICE guidelines for mesh in stress-related urinary incontinence forward from 2019 to 2018.
- Raise awareness among the general public and GPs.
Labour MP for Pontypridd Owen Smith who has previously raised awareness over the use of mesh implants, agreed with Hardy and said that issues raised by women over the effects of the implants had been ‘dismissed’ and that ‘women have been patronised by being told that their problems were unique’.
A number of other MPs spoke about how they had been contacted by both men and women who’ve had their lives changed for the worse because of the implants.
Labour MP Sharon Hodgson thanked Kath Samson, the head of Sling the Mesh campaign for uniting women who had been affected by the implants.
She continued, saying: “The NHS and the MHRA say that the risk of complications is low, at 1% to 3%, but a report by nine leading medics put the risk much higher, at 15%. If leading bodies and medical professionals cannot agree, how can patients be expected to make informed decisions?
Hodgson went on to state that Labour are asking for an urgent public inquiry into the implants, specifically into ‘the number of women adversely affected by vaginal mesh implants and into why the safety of so many women was disregarded’.
Kath Sansom of Sling the Mesh campaign said before the debate: “We hope the debate will make the ruling government wake up to the fact that both prolapse and incontinence meshes and tapes pose serious harm to many women with risks rates that are unacceptably high.”
Labour are also urging the NHS and NICE to immediately update the guidance and suspend the use of vaginal mesh.
Responding to the requests, Jackie Doyle-Price, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health refused to suspend the mesh and disregarded the need for a public enquiry. She said that the issue is not with the mesh implants and is instead related to clinical practice.
She said women need to be treated properly and that they are given the proper advice, risk assessments and are also able to report any complications.
Doyle-Price continued: “The most important thing we can do—my priority—is to ensure that they get the support, care and treatment they need to alleviate a debilitating condition.”
NICE guidelines on the implants will be made available before the end of 2017, Doyle-Price said. She also said that mesh is the best product for treating incontinence but agreed that the evidence regarding prolapse is more mixed.
Hardy was disappointed with the results, calling the minister’s response ‘simply not good enough’.
She said: “I completely disagree with her: it is about not only the procedure, but the product. I hope that the weight of evidence from all the women involved—all the women who have emailed, all the constituents and all the people who have contacted Sling the Mesh—will be enough to show the Minister that this is more than just procedural; this is about the product.”