Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to support people experiencing after-effects as a result of surgical mesh implants.

To help deliver improved support to women, 18 trusts in England and one in Scotland have declared themselves as having the right multi-disciplinary teams and experience to provide advice and treatment or onward referral for women with complications following surgery involving mesh.

In addition, in England the national specialised commissioning team will shortly be consulting on a number of service specifications that cover specialised women’s surgery, which includes mesh insertion and removal. Once the specification has been agreed NHS England will commission specific centres for complex mesh removal where women have experienced significant complications from their treatment with mesh. A key requirement for all services will be a multidisciplinary team to support women to understand the options available to them and to access expert care required for their individual circumstances.