GPS told to stop mesh implants being used

The use of mesh implants in the Scottish health service should stop, a parliamentary report has found.

Holyrood’s Public Petitions Committee has urged the Scottish Government to halt the use of such procedures, used in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI).

Thousands of women in Scotland have been treated using the implants, but some have suffered painful and debilitating complications.

The committee said they had “serious concerns” about the final report of an independent review into the use of mesh. The review last year found mesh must not be offered “routinely” to women with pelvic organ prolapse. The inquiry was announced by the Scottish Government in 2014, with health boards requested to stop the procedure until its conclusion.

The final report was branded a “whitewash” by campaigners, including Elaine Holmes and Olive Mcilroy, who lodged the original petition with the parliament on behalf of the Scottish Mesh Survivors campaign.

They resigned from the review amid the controversy, as did expert clinician Dr Wael Agur.

Professor Alison Britton has been commissioned to conduct a review of the review, which is due to report later this year. The committee said its preference was for “the use of mesh devices to treat SUI and POP to cease in Scotland”.