Summary
Sling the Mesh welcomes the speech in Parliament on the 16 April that recognised the mesh‑injured community in the new refreshed Women’s Health Strategy, thanks to Health Minister Karin Smyth who explicitly acknowledged how our pain was ignored for years.
That recognition did not happen by accident, it happened because we made a fuss, typing emails furiously – refusing to let the mesh‑injured community be forgotten, downplayed or erased.
The new Strategy was launched and is a powerful document which recognises that women’s voices are often ignored and downplayed across the health sector. The Strategy outlines 117 calls to action to improve women’s health across their lifetime.
Content
Karen Smyth Health Minister, said: “For too long, women have been left to navigate a confusing system, fighting to get the basic care they deserve, and under-represented in health research. Above all, women’s voices and choices have been dismissed, and it is truly shocking how often women have been ignored when telling medical professionals about their pain. From pelvic mesh to endometriosis, we are expected to put up with pain as our lot in life, as if it were normal. But it is not normal, and since coming into office this Government have taken a number of measures to improve women’s health.”
Shadow Health Minister Dr Caroline Johnson said: “I find it remarkable that the Minister has the audacity to talk about women harmed by pelvic mesh when, after almost two years in office, the Government have still not responded to the Hughes report. When do they intend to do so?”
MP Oliver Ryan said: “I am quite ashamed to say that before being elected to this place, I did not know enough about women’s health issues, and in particular the issues with pelvic and vaginal mesh—the wait for treatment and the struggle to be heard—and endometriosis; people with that condition face a wait for diagnosis and a struggle for recognition. Since I was elected, I have been contacted by tens of women across Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield, who are fighting the fight for recognition of these topics on behalf of women across the country. It is because of that that I am educated enough to stand here today. Those women feel ignored and abandoned by a health service that does not care enough about women’s health issues. Will the Minister give a commitment to campaigners such as the women in Burnley, Padiham and Brierfield who have approached me that because of this strategy, they will now be heard?
MP Chris Vince said: “I was shocked by the number of women from my constituency of Harlow who came forward to tell me about their terrible experiences of being gaslit, ignored and disrespected, particularly when it came to endometriosis and the pelvic mesh scandal.”
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