In today’s debate on the use of surgical mesh, I was privileged to represent one of my constituents who has suffered years of agony following a vaginal mesh procedure for a relatively minor condition. Her story says it all and I join my fellow colleagues from all sides of the House to appeal to the Government to suspend all types of surgical mesh until there has been a thorough review of the procedure. The surgery which usually takes less than an hour involves inserting a plastic mesh into the vagina to support the bladder, womb or bowel but it has left thousands of women in agony for years afterwards.
Jackie Cheetham from Allerston, near Pickering, told me her story which she allowed me to repeat in Parliament. ‘Within a few days of surgery I had severe pain in my groin and bladder. I was referred back to York Hospital on many occasions. The surgeon said he could find nothing wrong with me and eventually recommended I saw a psychiatrist, as he believed it was all in my head. As a teenager I had a history of mental health problems when my parents went through a nasty divorce. I was left to bring up my younger sister and take my main, secondary school exams. I simply could not cope but because this is on my medical records, even though the mesh operation was many years later they still referred back to that time and thought this must also be psychological. My GP spoke up for me and told them I was not depressed and demanded they find a solution. Eventually I was given a MRI scan and the mesh was found sticking into my bladder. I was then operated on to partially remove the mesh. After the operation, the surgeon described the pain of the mesh sticking into me as being like barbed wire as the raw edges of the material had hardened. It’s intended that your body should mould itself into it and removal would be like extracting it from concrete’.
Jackie has lived her life in constant pain since 2006. She takes concentrated Oramorph and wears Buprenorphine patches and codeine for ‘break-through’ pain. Now she cannot walk far and can stand for extended periods of time and her sleep is badly affected. Jackie says her life and her family life have been ruined and she particularly resents the fact that she wasn’t given any warning of the possible consequences.
Thanks to the work of colleagues in Parliament the effects of this treatment are now much better known and I welcome the review which was launched in February but I don’t think we are yet aware of the scale of the problem. The recent Guardian report said that out of 100,000 operations there were 6,000 removals, so there is an issue with at least 6%, and that is just the ones that have been removed, so we know the scale is greater than is currently acknowledged. Something needs to be done now to stop other women suffering in the way Jackie and thousands and others have suffered. We need a thorough audit of the problem as quickly as possible. It must also be sensible when there are alternatives to look at a suspension of this treatment today. Burch colposuspension and autologous sling are alternative treatments, and it makes sense to me, and certainly my constituent, to suspend this treatment and look at other treatments whilst we find an alternative. I join my colleagues in urging the government to take action sooner rather than later.