Mesh scandal women face 2-year wait for treatment

Removal of implants delayed

WOMEN affected by Scotland’s mesh scandal who need the implants removed say they are still waiting for treatment despite a Scottish Government funding pledge in the summer.

The women were told they can have the implants removed for free by specialists in the US and England.

But campaigners said initial assessments for mesh removal, which are carried out in Glasgow, were taking up to two years.

A protest was held outside the New Victoria Hospital in the city yesterday as the issue was debated in the Scottish parliament. MSPs agreed the general principle of a Bill which would see women reimbursed if they have already paid to have their implant removed privately.

Mesh implant use was stopped in Scotland in 2018 after hundreds of women were left with painful, lifechanging side effects.

In July, the Scottish Government announced surgery and travel costs to Spire Health Care in Bristol and the Mercy Hospital in Missouri in the US would be covered. The cost of each procedure is estimated to be £16,000 to £23,000.

Mesh implants have been used to treat conditions some women suffer after childbirth, such as incontinence and prolapse.

Isabelle McLafferty of Scottish Mesh Survivors told the BBC patients had to be assessed in Glasgow but new referrals were taking ‘anything up to two years’. She believes the pandemic and NHS waiting times have played a part in the delays but added: ‘The actual system that has operated for the Glasgow Mesh Centre does not seem fit for purpose.

‘Women are receiving appointments and then they are cancelled.

‘One lady had been scheduled to be seen today and is now not being seen until May/June 2022.’

Health Secretary Humza Yousaf said he hoped to finalise contracts with the clinics in Bristol and Missouri ‘as quickly as we possibly can’. He added: ‘I would hope to have an update relatively soon.

‘I know they have been waiting too long and I promise them I don’t want them to be waiting any longer than they have to.’

Conservative health spokesman Dr Sandesh Gulhane said his party supports the principles of the Bill and wants to see it move quickly through parliament.

He said: ‘Over a 20-year period, in Scotland alone over 20,000 women underwent mesh surgery and thousands are believed to have suffered in varying degrees from the effects.

‘Some 600 women have resorted to taking legal action.’

Liberal Democrats leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said: ‘In my short career as an MSP I cannot really remember another issue which I think captures the universal support, concern and horror of this chamber.’

Labour’s Carol Mochan said her colleague Neil Findlay – a former MSP for Lothian – had campaigned on the issue in the last session of the Scottish parliament.

‘System is not fit for purpose’