Scottish Government will not back suspension of all surgical mesh use due to lack of certain treatment alternatives, says Maree Todd

The Women’s Health minister has said the Scottish Government has made “significant progress” on transvaginal mesh but the Government will not suspend all use of surgical mesh as it will leave a “cohort of people” with limited or no treatment options.

On Wednesday, a Scottish Parliament committee considered a petition which urges the government to suspend all surgical mesh and fixation devices.

However, Women’s Health Minister, Maree Todd told the committee there are still “complex” and “long-established” procedures involving mesh implants with “few, if any, viable alternatives”.

Mesh implants have not been used in vaginal surgeries in Scotland since 2018, when ministers put a moratorium in place after women who had undergone mesh procedures suffered debilitating complications.

Mesh implant patients staged a protest to challenge government over surgery delays in Glasgow in November 2021.

The Transvaginal Mesh Removal Cost Reimbursement (Scotland) Act 2022 was recently introduced and the associated scheme was opened on Monday.

The scheme allows women who paid for private surgery – which costs between £16,000 and £23,000 – to claim the money back.

Ms Todd said the Scottish Government has made “significant progress” on transvaginal mesh as she said “everything is being done” in negotiating contracts to assist those with mesh implant removals. The Minister said she hopes to update parliament on the negotiations soon.

Ms Todd said: “We’ve established a national service for the management of mesh complications and women have options with regard to their treatment which can be undertaken in Scotland, elsewhere in the UK and also with an independent provider if desired.”

Mesh implant patients have challenged the government over surgery delays as they claimed initial assessments in areas such as Glasgow were taking up to two years.

The Scottish Government has said it is working with NHS Specialist Services to improve waiting times.

There are still procedures where the use of mesh, such as abdominal mesh, has not been halted.

However, Ms Todd said there is a “high vigilance” protocol in place for those circumstances across NHS Scotland.

The petition calls for a suspension of mesh treatment while a review of all surgical procedures which use polyester, polypropylene or titanium is carried out.

The women’s health minister said: "It’s important to remember that some of these procedures are complex and long-established with few, if any, viable alternatives so to suspend the use of mesh would leave a cohort of people with limited or no treatment options.”

Ms Todd said she was “mindful” of the discussions raised by campaigners on the use of mesh on other areas such as hernia repair.

Paul Sweeney MSP told members the lived experiences of people who suffered complications from mesh implants.

Mr Sweeney said one submission from a man stated that he suffered an “overwhelming sense of wanting to die” due to the “horror of the pain” the mesh caused.

Talks have been ongoing with a Canadian hernia repair unit, however, Ms Todd said she is not currently “minded to reconstruct the unit in Canada”.

The minister said the Scottish Health and Technologies group has published two reports on the use of mesh for hernia repair which support the continued use of mesh on a variety of hernia cases.

“We’ve discussed the findings of these reports with professional bodies including Royal Colleges and the British Hernia Society and will continue to work with them on this important issue,” Ms Todd said.