SCOTLAND'S health boards have been told to "immediately halt" the use of mesh implants altogether in surgery.
Health Secretary Jeane Freeman made the announcement following the death of Eileen Baxter, 75, in August.
Multiple organ failure was said to have led to Mrs Baxter’s death, with sacrocolopexy mesh repair – an implant to fix a pelvic organ prolapse – noted as an underlying cause.
Her son Mark, 52, has called for the products to be completely banned.
Ms Freeman said NHS boards had been told to halt the use of mesh in cases of pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.This will continue until a new "restricted use protocol" is drawn up.
Other mesh procedures, such as transabdominal mesh, will be kept under active review and will also be subject to high vigilance procedures.She also praised the bravery of women who have come forward to share their problems following vaginal mesh surgery.
Healthcare Improvement Scotland has established a group to oversee any continued use of the treatment.
And Ms Freeman said the chief medical officer has continued to keep the issueunder review and is listening to the women who have been affected of this.
She said: “I have today asked the Chief Medical Officer to instruct Health Boards to immediately halt the use of transvaginal mesh altogether in cases of both pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence, pending the implementation of a new restricted use protocol that will ensure procedures are carried out only in the most exceptional circumstances and subject to a robust process of approval and fully informed consent.
“The instruction to halt is, I believe, a proportionate measure whilst a rigorous, high vigilance restricted use ptotocol for any future practice is developed and put in place.
“The lifting of this halt in use can only be considered once there is confidence that there is sufficient evidence that the protocol can only be triggered in only the most limited of circumstances – informed by any new evidence and the forthcoming NICE guidance which is expected in the spring of next year on the management of pelvic organ prolapse and stress urinary incontinence.”
Holyrood’ public petitions committee had called for the use of mesh implants to stop, citing “serious concerns” over an independent review into their use.
That review concluded the procedure – used in the treatment of pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI) – must not be offered “routinely” to women with pelvic organ prolapse.
The review was announced by the Scottish Government in 2014, with health boards requested to stop the procedure until its conclusion.
It remains under suspension in NHS Scotland except in exceptional circumstances.
The review’s final report was branded a “whitewash” by some women who have suffered painful and debilitating complications from mesh, including campaigners Elaine Holmes and Olive McIlroy.
Professor Alison Britton has been commissioned to conduct a review of the review, which is due to report later this year.
6 years of campaigning with the brilliant Elaine Holmes and @MBLacey of the Scottish mesh survivors and we have got the Scottish Govt to see sense and ban mesh implants - this could have been done 6 years ago. pic.twitter.com/aOuiVpoaS7
— Neil Findlay MSP (@NeilFindlay_MSP) September 12, 2018
Mrs Baxter from Loanhead, died in hospital in Edinburgh last month.
She underwent mesh surgery five years ago. Her death certificate lists this as an antecedent cause of death that caused chronic pelvic inflammation and possible sepsis, leading to anterior rectal perforation and finally the multiple organ failure that ultimately resulted in her death.
And Labour MSP Neil Findlay said that he understood it was the first time mesh had been specifically cited as an underlying cause of death in Scotland.
Hundreds of women in Scotland have suffered painful and debilitating complications from being given mesh implants, including infections, bleeding and even paralysis.
The use of mesh implants in NHS Scotland was suspended four years ago in all but exceptional circumstances.
But the following year it was found several health boards were still carrying out the operations. Critics say hundreds have been performed since then.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel