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Found 88 results
  1. News Article
    Amy-Jane Davies is on six NHS waiting lists and says constantly chasing for updates is taking over her life. She's waited 21 months for gynaecological surgery, which she said will likely result in her being referred for a more specialist operation - meaning another waiting list. Amy-Jane, who has endometriosis, is one of 43,120 on a gynaecology waiting list in Wales and one of 687,958 waiting for any type of treatment. She said her condition had affected her life in ways she "didn't imagine", from reducing her hours at work to deciding not to become a mother. With the Senedd election in Wales on 7 May, NHS waiting times are one of the challenges facing the next Welsh government. Amy-Jane, 30, from south Wales, was first diagnosed with endometriosis in 2018, a condition where cells similar to those in the lining of the womb grow in other parts of the body. Her symptoms range from abdominal cramping and severe bloating to migraines, fatigue, as well as bladder and bowel problems. "During Covid, the gynaecology waiting lists grew to eight to 10 years and at that point I knew there was just no way I could wait that long to get something done," she said. In 2021, Amy-Jane paid £4,000 for private surgery with help from her mum and nan.
  2. News Article
    Women are waiting too long for care because of “medical misogyny” within the NHS, the UK’s top gynaecologist has warned. Dr Alison Wright, president of the Royal College of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians (RCOG), warned that women’s health conditions are often prioritised differently to men’s, with chronic and debilitating conditions such as endometriosis not being given the attention they deserve. She also warned that A&E was being clogged up with women who need emergency treatment because they are waiting too long for routine procedures. Speaking to The Independent ahead of the government’s new health plan for women, published by health secretary Wes Streeting on Wednesday, she said: “Misogyny exists across society... sadly, I’m having to say this in 2026. “Women are not prioritised as they should be across the board, including when it comes to the health service. We, as gynaecologists, often have to really push for women to get a place in the operating theatre.” She added: “An example [a colleague] gave me recently was of a man who had a testicular torsion, which is often treated as an emergency and taken to the operating room very quickly. “Whereas, when a woman has a similar equivalent of torsion of her ovary, it’s not always treated as an emergency in the same way.” Dr Wright claimed that robots were brought into hospitals “very quickly” for male urology surgery, while gynaecologists had to “jump through hoops” for the same technology. Read full story Source: The Independent, 15 April 2026
  3. News Article
    Twenty-five women have received compensation from Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board following gynaecological surgery carried out by a single surgeon - with one saying the ongoing pain is like someone "twisting a knife" inside them. S4C’s current affairs programme Y Byd ar Bedwar has been investigating the work of gynaecological surgeon Derek Klazinga. He was employed by Betsi health board and the previous North Wales health trusts between 2002 and 2016. Originally from South Africa, he worked at Ysbyty Glan Clwyd and Ysbyty Gwynedd. Mr Klazinga said he had "sincerest sympathy" that the women have had to endure such physical and psychological pain but said this had been down to "what we now know to be, defective medical products". One patient, who was not named, said the daily pain was like someone "twisting a knife" inside them. "It's horrific. He has destroyed my body," they added. Y Byd ar Bedwar has spoken to seven women in north Wales who have received compensation since 2015 after undergoing surgery by Mr Klazinga. Between them, they say they have received more than £600,000. Several said they did not consent to the procedures they received, while most described chronic pain that has had a profound impact on their lives. Read full story Source: North Wales Live, 10 February 2026
  4. Content Article
    In this blog, Sling the Mesh founder Kath Sansom highlights the variation in medical treatment depending on where you live in the world. Describing patient safety advocacy as "like a giant game of chess—but a hideous version where innocent people get hurt," she describes recent developments in the use of pelvic mesh globally. New Zealand recently suspended the use of a particular type of pelvic mesh at the same time as a Canadian study recommended its use for stress urinary incontinence (SUI). Kath gives a brief history of mesh sling suspension and argues that patient safety needs joined up thinking to protect women around the world.
  5. Content Article
    More information about "Patient Safety Spotlight interview with Kath Sansom, Founder of Sling the Mesh"
    This is part of our series of Patient Safety Spotlight interviews, where we talk to people working for patient safety about their role and what motivates them.  Kath talks to us about why she set up Sling the Mesh and the significant impact that campaigning has on her life. She also highlights the need to establish systems that will identify and prevent avoidable harm, including long term tracking to investigate trends of harm, reporting of industry payments to clinicians and making logging side effects mandatory for healthcare professionals. Read other posts by Kath on the hub: A mesh ‘audit’ is meaningless unless we have reliable data and hear from those who have been harmed - a blog by Kath Sansom Tokenism in patient engagement is unethical—but it is also dangerous. A blog by Kath Sansom Regulatory flaws: Women were catastrophically failed in the mesh, Primodos and Sodium Valproate tragedies
  6. News Article
    A woman who suffered traumatic complications from a vaginal mesh implant has been awarded a record settlement of at least £1m from the NHS. Yvette Greenway-Mansfield, 59, was given a mesh implant at Coventry’s University Hospital in 2009 and went on to suffer serious complications. Her medical negligence claim against the hospital trust found that the surgery was carried out prematurely and unnecessarily and that her consent form had been doctored to include additional risks after Greenway-Mansfield had signed it. Greenway-Mansfield said that being awarded the compensation was a “huge relief”, but added that many other women who have suffered similar damage had received little or no compensation, and criticised the government’s failure to establish a financial redress agency for victims. “I’m not the only one. There are thousands of mes,” she said. “There should be a pot of money to provide damages for these women and a care plan in place as an automatic response to mesh-damaged people. It comes down to a perception of women and women’s health problems. We’ve all had enough of it.” Read full story Source: The Guardian, 13 November 2023
  7. News Article
    The use of surgical mesh to treat a common childbirth injury is now suspended in New Zealand because of safety concerns. The extraordinary step, which follows a similar move in the United Kingdom, was announced today by Te Whatu Ora. It is being celebrated by a woman who spearheaded a campaign to highlight the harrowing mesh injuries suffered by her and many other Kiwi women. “It is an acknowledgement that their concerns were not just in their heads,” Sally Walker told the Herald. “It will give us some hope.” About 100 women around the country who are on waiting lists for urogynaecological surgeries involving mesh are being contacted by doctors to tell them their operations for stress urinary incontinence are on hold. The Director-General of Health Dr Diana Sarfati said the Surgical Mesh Roundtable (MRT), an oversight and monitoring group chaired by the Ministry of Health, had been investigating a “pause” since earlier this year. The group’s assessment was that the balance of benefit and harm from the procedure would be improved by the series of additional measures already planned, and it recommended a pause until those measures were substantively in place. “After considering the MRT’s assessment, I have decided to support a pause to allow the following steps to be put in place to reduce the harms linked to the procedure as much as possible,” said Sarfati. Read full story Source: NZ Herald, 22 August 2023
  8. Content Article
    In Australia, as in many other countries, the harms caused by transvaginal mesh surgery have prompted individual and collective attempts to achieve redress. Media outlets covered aspects of the rise of mesh surgery as a procedure, the experience of mesh-affected women and the formal inquiries and legal actions that followed, The authors of this article in the journal Health Expectations conducted a media analysis of the ten most read Australian newspapers and online news media platforms, focusing on how mesh and the interaction of stakeholders in mesh stories were presented to the Australian public. They found that mass media reporting, combined with medicolegal action and an Australian Senate Inquiry, appears to have provided women with greater epistemic justice, with powerful actors considering their stories. They argue that although medical reporting is not recognised in the hierarchy of evidence embedded in the medical knowledge system, in this case, media reporting has contributed to shaping medical knowledge in significant ways.
  9. Content Article
    More information about "Complications after private surgery: where to turn to?"
    A patient shares her experience of life-changing complications after a hysterectomy she had at a private hospital and the lack of follow up and help she's received since. She highlights the actions she would like to see in place for private hospitals around informed consent, follow up and support after surgery, and accountability. The patient wishes to remain anonymous. I had a hysterectomy at a private hospital back in 2015. I had a complex history of bowel disease and severe endometriosis and had already had a lifetime of surgeries plus a stoma before the hysterectomy. I had been referred to a particular gynaecologist at the private hospital owing to his expertise in complex cases. The outcome was horrific; my bowel perforated and the contents flooded out through my vagina. I was transferred late at night to a NHS teaching hospital where I spent 3 months faced with the prospect of never eating or drinking again. The complication was an enterocutaneous fistula – one of the most serious complications of abdominal surgery. The private hospital never contacted me. Prior to the operation, I had no information on the likelihood of such a serious complication; a rushed consent form was signed and off I went totally unaware of how this would change my life forever. It sounds dramatic but the lack of communication was just awful: no information, no guidance on what to do if things go wrong. Plus of course I was seriously ill and in no position to challenge anyone. I went on to have an attempted repair that resulted in respiratory failure and sepsis. I’ve never recovered. I now have to wear three bags – two for the fistulae and one for the long-standing ileostomy. I have been told repair is too dangerous, so this is me for life. The systemic inflammation is causing other health issues, including a serious eye condition. If I have the luxury of growing old, it’s going to be difficult managing it all. I understand complications happen, and I’m not saying anyone was negligent. But the outcome for me was the same. I was severely harmed. If there had been mechanisms in place to deal with these rare events, I’m sure I would have managed things differently. I developed post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and severe anxiety. I believe it was the poor institutional response, the lack of acknowledgment and information from the hospital that has contributed to this. I have tried to get support and answers, but the hospital told me initially and repeatedly that they were not accountable; private hospitals were merely hosts with no responsibility to the patient. In recent years I have found this isn’t actually true but of course time limits are now exhausted, leaving me to have to fight every step of the way. I have been unable to find an advocate and of course PALS and Community Health Council do not help private patients. There isn’t even an Ombudsman. The private hospital told me outcomes like mine are so rare, that there are no systems in place to support patients as the service would be so rarely used. Rare does not mean never and, if that’s the case, how can they possibly justify taking on complex patients. I feel broken. If someone asked me what would have helped, these are my thoughts: Private hospitals should make their position clear at the outset and prior to any surgery taking place. They should clearly state who is accountable if things go wrong and what steps are in place should a serious outcome occur. Private hospitals should not take on complex cases if they do not have the facilities and expertise to deal with things if things go wrong (most private hospitals do not have ICU facilities). The patient should be given detailed information about the intended procedure and information on what may happen if they decide not to have the procedure. If the outcome is severe, the patient should be supported by an advocate or specialised nurse who can act as a go between for the patient and surgeon. The long-term outlook should be discussed and the patient should be advised of any further options if complications occur. Patients need to have clear signposts to where they can get help whether it be the complaints process or litigation. At the moment it seems the surgeon assumes responsibility for the patient if complications occur. While this may work if the complication is short lived, there seems to be nothing in place if the complication is life changing and permanent. What happens to the patient if the surgeon retires or leaves? No one can or will answer me. I am trying to get answers from the hospital but have been told they may not accept a complaint because I’m out of time. I have explained why I did not make an official complaint earlier as I was told I had nothing to complain about and the hospital was not accountable, plus of course I thought I’d heal. It turns out neither were true. I have and I will never heal. I am in the process of compiling my complaint but I have to prepare myself for a standard letter saying I’m out of time. I'll be pretty devastated if this is the case as moving on without answers is all but impossible .
  10. Content Article
    More information about "THINK AORTA global webinar: Aortic Dissection in Pregnancy (March 2022)"
    Aortic Dissection is a catastrophic tear in the main artery carrying blood from the heart to the brain, limbs and vital organs. In this webinar, hosted by THINK AORTA, Dr Stephanie Curtis presents on aortic dissection in pregnancy. We also hear from Haleema Saadia, survivor of an aortic dissection, awareness campaigner and Vice-Chair of the National Patient Association for Aortic Dissection.
  11. Content Article
    This blog on the Sling the Mesh website provides an overview of research by Professor Carl Heneghan, Director of the Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine at Oxford University, into regulatory issues relating to pelvic mesh. It outlines issues uncovered by Professor Heneghan and his colleagues, including the fact that clinical trial data was not required in the regulation of mesh and that early evidence of complications was ignored in the approval of subsequent devices.
  12. News Article
    A trust’s main maternity unit has been rated “inadequate” and given a warning notice amid concerns delayed Caesarean sections are causing harm to babies. The Care Quality Commission (CQC) told Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells Trust to make significant improvements in how quickly it carries out emergency C-sections, the regulator said in a report today. The trust was also told to improve risk management, governance and oversight of services at its Tunbridge Wells Hospital. Inspectors found between April and July last year, 42% of “category 1” emergency Caesareans – defined as those posing an immediate threat to the life of the woman or foetus — at the Tunbridge Wells Hospital were delayed. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence says these should be carried out “as soon as possible and in most situations within 30 minutes of making the decision”. The report identified “ongoing recurrent delays” to emergency Caesareans overnight, as the trusts did not have a second theatre available. This “meant an increased risk of harm, including cases reported by the service such as babies with ‘acute foetal hypoxia’ had emerged due to delayed births”, the inspection report said. It also criticised the trust for not responding to a high level of post-partum haemorrhages, some of which had caused “moderate” harm. Read full story (paywalled) Source: HSJ, 16 February 2024
  13. News Article
    At least 137,000 women in the UK live with the painful and traumatic consequences of cutting, but there is no provision for reconstructive surgery. In May 2023, Shamsa Araweelo was in the A&E department of a London hospital in excruciating pain. It wasn’t the first time she had sought urgent treatment for the gynaecological damage caused by the female genital mutilation (FGM), or cutting, forced on her as a six-year-old. In fact, this was one of many such visits to emergency departments that Araweelo had made in her desperate attempt to find a surgeon who could help undo the damage done to her as a child and which has caused her so much pain and trauma as an adult. Araweelo says that in A&E she was told that she had severe nerve damage and that it could be reversed through reconstructive surgery. But not in the UK. “No doctor in the country will touch you, because you are an FGM survivor,” Araweelo says she was told. “I felt no compassion, no respect. Only in London did they tell me they wished they had the appropriate training to help me, and it breaks my heart. We are not valued in the UK.” Current NHS rules state that if a health practitioner suspects a patient has been cut, they must report the case to the police and complete a safeguarding risk assessment to determine whether a social care referral is required. Guidance for GPs also recommends referrals for mental health issues related to FGM or referrals to uro-gynaecological specialist clinics. Araweelo says that in all the years she has sought help she has never been offered any kind of support from medical professionals. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 21 December 2023
  14. Event
    until
    For the first time, RCOG World Congress will be an innovative and inclusive hybrid event, held simultaneously in London and online. To ensure we continue to support healthcare professionals at all stages across the globe, we wanted to provide a format accessible to all. Our hybrid event will feature a 350 in-person face-to-face event at the RCOG’s headquarters in Union Street, London and a state-of-the-art virtual experience available to all. Both will be linked using our virtual event platform and Congress app for networking, 121 meetings, Q&A, polling and live reactions. Find out more and register
  15. News Article
    More than 200 women were harmed when a rogue surgeon carried out operations on them unnecessarily, an NHS inquiry has found. Some of the women were left with life-changing physical problems or unable to work, while many also suffered trauma and serious psychological harm as a result. Overall, 203 women on whom Anthony Dixon performed procedures between 2007 and 2017 came to harm, according to a review by the North Bristol NHS trust (NBT). Dixon, who for years was Britain’s most influential pelvic surgeon, worked for both the trust and the private Spire hospital in the city. In 2017, NBT launched a review of Dixon’s performance and suspended him after dozens of women he had performed procedures on complained that they had experienced appalling consequences, including unmanageable pain and incontinence. The Guardian revealed in late 2017 that 100 women were suing him for medical negligence. Some cases have since been settled, but dozens are ongoing. NBT sacked Dixon in 2019 and he is currently banned from practising in the UK. During the review, 378 women were recalled and asked to set out their dealings with Dixon. All had undergone a procedure called laparoscopic ventral mesh rectopexy (LVMR), in which plastic mesh is inserted to repair weakened tissue in the pelvic floor. In papers presented to NBT’s board on Thursday, board members were told that the inquiry had concluded. “The trust has notified 203 NHS patients that, although their LVMR operation was carried out satisfactorily, they should have been offered alternative treatments before proceeding to surgery. We have defined these patients as suffering ‘harm’ as a result,” it said. Read full story Source: The Guardian, 26 May 2022
  16. Content Article
    This episode of the Business of Healthcare podcast delves into the complex and sensitive topic of the mesh scandal which has impacted countless women's lives. Host Tara Humphrey welcomes Consultant Gynecologist and Urogynecology subspecialist Dr Wael Agur to share his expert insights on the rise and fall of mesh devices in surgical procedures. Wael offers a candid look at the multifaceted issues surrounding patient consent, the role of manufacturers, aggressive marketing strategies, and the ethical dilemmas faced by medical professionals.
  17. Content Article
    The OptiBreech project is a research study exploring the feasibility of evaluating a new care pathway for women with a breech pregnancy. About 1 in 25 babies are born bottom-down (breech) after 37 weeks of pregnancy. Women who wish to plan a vaginal breech birth have asked for more reliable support from an experienced professional. This aligns with national policy to enable maternal choice. In this video, Dr Shawn Walker explains why the combination of meconium and tachycardia, particularly in the first stage of labour, indicates increased risk in breech births.
  18. Content Article
    Fatigue and sleep deprivation may affect healthcare professionals' skills and communication style and also may affect clinical outcomes. However, there are no current guidelines limiting the volume of deliveries and procedures performed by a single individual, or on the length of time that they can be on call. This Committee Opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) analyses research relating to fatigue and performance in healthcare professionals in order to make recommendations to doctors and managers to improve staff and patient safety. Recommendations Physicians at all stages in their careers need to be conscious of the demands placed on them professionally and personally and should balance those demands with rest to avoid excessive fatigue or overcommitment. The medical directors of outpatient units and chairs of hospital departments of obstetrics and gynaecology may consider developing call schedules and associated policies that balance the need for continuity of care and the health care providers’ need for rest. With the growing concern about the potential consequences of health care provider fatigue on patient safety, physicians should commit to evaluating the effects that fatigue has on their professional and personal lives and should demonstrate willingness to adjust workloads, work hours, and time commitments to avoid fatigue when caring for patients.
  19. Content Article
    In the 1790s, François Marie Prevost, a young French surgeon fresh from his medical training in Paris moved to Port-de-Paix, Haiti. “Of course at that time Haiti was France's most economically valuable colony”, says historian Deirdre Cooper Owens. “So there he began some experimental work on enslaved Haitian women, trying to perfect the caesarean section.” Prevost's sojourn coincided with the leadership of Toussaint Louverture, who had been born a slave, the fight for Haitian independence, and the abolition of slavery. And so Prevost left Haiti for Louisiana. “He moved to a little town outside of Baton Rouge, and began experimental surgery on enslaved women there, perfecting the caesarean section, and he did this in the 1830s, the era before the civil war that ends slavery.” It was also an era in which Louisiana surgeons were reluctant to attempt the experimental surgery on white women. Of the 15 caesarean sections done by Prevost and others in Louisiana between 1820 and 1861, all were performed on enslaved women. “At the time, in the 19th century, during the time of slavery, they couldn’t consent”, she explains. “But this is the really interesting thing: from the 1830s all the way to the 21st century, Louisiana has been in the top three states with the most caesarean sections on Black women patients…So what's going on, did all of these women need to have caesarean sections?”
  20. News Article
    Sam Hindle has 23cm of polypropylene mesh in her body and lives in constant fear that it will become unstable and cause irreversible damage. "You are in your own Battle Royale, strapped to a time bomb, and thinking when is it going to go off," she told the BBC. Sam, 46, is one of hundreds of women in Scotland who have suffered life-changing symptoms since they had a transvaginal mesh implant. After years of campaigning by the women, the Scottish government has promised it will cover the costs of mesh removal at private clinics in the UK and US. But Sam has been waiting more than two years just for a referral to the Complex Mesh Surgical Service in Glasgow to start the process. The Scottish government announced last year that it had signed a contract to allow NHS patients to visit a US expert for mesh removal surgery The contract with Gynaecologic and Reconstructive Surgery of Missouri, where Dr Dionysios Veronikis operates, follows a similar contract agreed with Spire Healthcare in Bristol. The cost of each removal procedure is estimated to be £16,000 to £23,000. But in order to access such treatment, women have to be assessed by the national service in Glasgow. Women like Sam say there are waiting years to just get referred for assessment. With further delays for appointments and then waits for surgery. Read full story Source: BBC News, 2 March 2023
  21. News Article
    Mesh campaigners claim Scotland's Health Secretary Humza Yousaf refused to meet them to hear their concerns. Patients blame surgical mesh products for leaving them disabled and in chronic pain and want the Scottish Government to hold an independent review into the use of the products. However, followihttps://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/mesh-campaigners-claim-humza-yousaf-29075491ng a debate in the Scottish Parliament earlier this month, the Health Secretary denied their request. Campaigner Roseanna Clarkin, of the Scottish Global Mesh Alliance, said Yousaf has refused several requests for meetings with campaigners spanning nearly two years. Roseanna, who has been left with crippling pain after mesh was used on her umbilical hernia in 2015, has blasted him for “ignoring” those affected by mesh procedures. From the late 90s until 2018, women in Scotland were treated with polypropylene mesh implants for stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse. In some, it caused severe pain and life-changing side effects. While the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review called for a pause in use of vaginal mesh, the products are not banned for all procedures. The Scottish Global Mesh Alliance were behind the petition calling for an independent review which was debated at Holyrood. They want to suspend the use of all surgical mesh and fixation devices while a review is carried out. Roseanna said: “Why do they assume mesh in another part of the body would respond differently and not cause extreme pain and serious infections?” Read full story Source: Daily Record, 29 January 2023
  22. News Article
    Women who underwent mesh surgery were not given accurate information before the life-altering procedure, a case review has found. The study also said poor communication between patients and doctors led, in some cases, to mistrust. Medical notes were often misleading or did not detail the surgery that had occurred or its outcomes. The review spent two years looking at the cases of 18 women who received transvaginal mesh implants. It has now called for a comprehensive register to be set up to keep track of women who have had operations to remove mesh in Scotland, abroad and privately. The Transvaginal Mesh Case Record Review by Glasgow Caledonian University makes a series of other recommendations, including: Better aftercare following surgery Clear language so patients understand exactly what surgery is going to achieve. Read full story Source: BBC News, 21 June 2023
  23. Content Article
    Worldwide, most Caesarean sections (CS) are performed under neuraxial anaesthesia. However, neuraxial anaesthesia can fail and intraoperative breakthrough pain can occur. The aim of this study from Roofthooft et al. was to evaluate the incidence of breakthrough pain in consecutive CS and to describe the potential risk factors for breakthrough pain. In a two centre, prospective audit all CS performed under neuraxial anesthesia were included and the occurrence of breakthrough pain as well as all possible risk factors of breakthrough pain were recorded as well as the alternative anesthetic strategy. The study found that duration of surgery and epidural drug used were both significant risk factors of breakthrough pain during CS in this audit. A pro-active policy is required in order to prevent breakthrough pain or discomfort during CS. Early identification of problematic epidural catheters for labour analgesia, adequate level of anaesthetic block before surgery, and administration of a prophylactic epidural top-up if duration of surgery is prolonged as opposed to the choice of local anaesthetic used, could be essential in the prevention. Further high-quality studies are needed to evaluate the many potential risk factors associated with breakthrough pain during CS.
  24. Content Article
    Vaginal tapes, slings and meshes are medical devices that are surgically implanted to treat stress urinary incontinence (SUI) and pelvic organ prolapse (POP) in women. This report written on behalf of the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) by York Health Economics Consortium, provides summaries of safety and adverse events related to vaginal tapes for SUI and POP. The summaries were developed using the data reported in systematic reviews of the effects and safety of vaginal tapes published in the 10 years up to 2012.
  25. Content Article
    This article highlights two written questions tabled in the House of Commons relating to recommendations of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review concerning surgical mesh implants. The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety (IMMDS) Review, led by Baroness Julia Cumberlege, examined how the healthcare system in England responded to reports about harmful side effects of medicines and medical devices, focusing on three specific interventions: hormone pregnancy tests, sodium valproate and pelvic mesh implants. These interventions have resulted in a truly shocking degree of avoidable harm to patients over a period of decades. One of the Review’s patient safety recommendations was to create a database for all implantable medical devices. The Review in its findings noted that the healthcare system does not have a clear assessment of the true long-term complication rate for pelvic mesh procedures, and recommended that an audit should be attempted to establish complication rates. Below are details of two written questions tabled by Feryal Clark MP, Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Patient Safety, concerning these issues. Both questions were answered by Maria Caulfield MP, Minister for Primary Care and Patient Safety. Creation of a database Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care whether his Department plans to create a database for people who have permanently implanted medical devices, including details on the type of device. Answer: The Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review recommended that “a central patient-identifiable database should be created by collecting key details of the implantation of all devices at the time of the operation. This can then be linked to specifically created registers to research and audit the outcomes both in terms of the device safety and patient reported outcomes measures”. The Government accepted this recommendation. In 2021/22, we worked with partners in the healthcare system to scope, test and cost methods of achieving a United Kingdom-wide medical device information system. This explored establishing national systems, expanding clinical registries and approaches to electronically tracking implanted medical devices at the point of care.  We aim to publish an update on the implementation of the Review’s recommendations, including work on a medical device information system, in summer 2022.[1] Retrospective audit Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of a retrospective audit of mesh implants to everyone who had one implanted in 2010 as called for in the Cumberlege Review. Answer: We accepted the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review’s recommendation to undertake a selective retrospective audit of a defined cohort of women who have undergone mesh procedures. NHS Digital is currently completing an audit of all pelvic floor surgery completed in 2010, to generate a historical baseline of outcomes by procedure type and support further research and analysis. We aim to publish the results of the audit later this year.[2] References House of Commons, Surgical Mesh Implants – Question for Department of Health and Social Care, UIN 21319, tabled on 20 June 2022. House of Commons, Surgical Mesh Implants – Question for Department of Health and Social Care, UIN 21320, tabled on 20 June 2022. Related reading Doctors shocking comments to women harmed by mesh First Do No Harm. The report of the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review (8 July 2020) Regulatory flaws: Women were catastrophically failed in the mesh, Primodos and Sodium Valproate tragedies “There’s no problem with the mesh”: A personal account of the struggle to get vaginal mesh removal surgery

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