Government has ‘sat on hands’ for years over mesh victim payouts

Mesh-injured women face a perilous future waiting for medical help with no progress made five years after damning reports demanded a series of interventions and a compensation scheme.

Hundreds of women who ­suffered injuries when NHS Scotland decided to “save” £200 per patient by using plastic mesh are still waiting for implant removal and treatment for life-changing side effects.

We can reveal the Scottish Government has failed to implement all the recommendations set out by Professor Alison Britton in her 2018 and 2023 reviews, which were highly critical of the NHS and found women were gaslit and injuries ignored.

And no progress has been made over setting up a compensation scheme for those who lost careers, marriages and their homes after suffering horrific injuries as a result of the operations to treat bladder problems after childbirth.

Former psychiatric nurse Marian Kenny, from Clydebank, had to give up her career as a result of the injuries she suffered. She said: “When NHS Scotland decided to save money by using plastic mesh kits instead of the tried and tested surgical repairs, they condemned us to a life of pain and disability.

“We’ve spent almost 15 years campaigning for truth and justice, and while we have managed to have the dangerous implants withdrawn from Scottish hospitals, women like me who suffered life-changing injuries have not only been left struggling with horrific pain, we’ve lost the futures we planned and worked for.”

Despite the launch of what was described as a centre of excellence for mesh care in Glasgow, injured women say they have been forced to wait years for appointments.

Ex-nurse Marian said: “The government and NHS have broken promise after promise to us. The mesh centre appears to only see patients one morning a week.

“I went to the US for removal surgery from Dr Dionysius Veronikis in 2022, and I still haven’t seen anyone here for follow-up. It’s a disgrace.”

© Jamie Williamson

Scottish Conservative MSP Jackson Carlaw has now secured the promise of a crisis meeting with First Minister John Swinney.

Paying tribute to Prof Britton, who died after a short illness a year ago, Carlaw told parliament last week: “Her loss is keenly felt by me, her colleagues and the thousands of women who suffered the injustice of mesh and saw in her championship leadership not least in the two landmark reports commissioned by the Scottish Government.

“I urge the First Minister to revisit those reports, which have not been fully implemented despite being accepted in full, and update parliament what progress has been made in regard to that as well as asking the Health Secretary to work with the government at Westminster to revisit recommendations into compensation for the women who suffered the mesh injustice.”

Swinney said they would meet over the summer “to discuss these issues and fully take stock of the progress that has been made”.

Gill Watt, of campaign group Scottish Mesh Survivors, said: “Our lives and futures have been cruelly taken from us just so the NHS could save a miserly £200 per patient.”

”NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde said: “As has been the case since the Complex Mesh Surgical Service (CMSS) was established, a weekly specialist clinic is held for new patients to be assessed, while follow-up appointments are undertaken by our specialist clinical team throughout the week.

“The current wait for a first appointment is approximately eight weeks, and if it is decided mesh removal surgery is required, the waiting time is 16 weeks.”

But Gill Watt of Scottish Mersh Survivors said: “This is not the experience of our members, some have waited years to get seen.”