13 DHBs no longer doing mesh surgery

Thirteen out of 20 district health boards have scrapped controversial vaginal mesh surgeries.

Associate Minister for Health Julie Anne Genter says tighter surgical standards will improve patient safety.

Genter said in Parliament on Wednesday that the Government had taken action to protect women from the dangers of mesh.

Thirteen DHBs were no longer offering the surgical treatment used to treat women with stress urinary incontinence (SUI) following a request in September for surgeons to meet new Australian standards, Genter said.

Yet advocates for the injured called the measure an ‘‘an epic fail’’, saying it would not reduce the number of procedures or the level of harm.

An Australian Senate inquiry highlighted devastating complications that can occur as a result of the mesh procedures and the Australian Therapeutic Goods Authority developed specific credentials for surgeons to help reduce the number of women affected.

In September, director-general of health Ashley Bloomfield wrote to all DHBs asking them to ensure their surgeons met new Australian guidelines for vaginal mesh procedures.

A ministry spokesman said 21 surgeons met the credentialling guidance and the procedure would continue to be offered by seven DHBs – Auckland, Canterbury, Capital & Coast, Counties Manukau, Southern, Waikato and Waitemata.

The remaining 13 DHBs had either suspended the surgeries until they could meet the requirements or had stopped offering the treatment altogether.

The ministry did not know how many surgeons were performing the surgery prior to Bloomfield’s request.

Mesh Down Under advocate Charlotte Korte said surgeons were not required to show they could remove mesh if there were complications. Most mesh procedures occurred in private hospitals but those providers did not have to meet ministry requirements on credentials, she said.

Information released to Korte under the Official Information Act showed the ministry wrote to 24 private hospitals asking them to meet the Australian standards and only four responded.

ACC received over 1018 treatment injury claims for mesh procedures (including hernias, pelvic organ prolapse and SUIs) between 2005 and June, 2018.

A draft Therapeutic Products Bill is expected to be released for public consultation by the end of the year.