NHS England is responsible for commissioning specialised services for patients with complications of mesh inserted to treat urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse.

Nine NHS Hospitals have been commissioned to provide a multi-disciplinary team (MDT) approach to support patients with complications of mesh (Mesh Centres).  The MDTs are made up of surgeons, physicians, imaging specialists, nurses, pain specialists, physiotherapists, and clinical psychologists in line with the published service specification. The Mesh Centres cover all of the NHS Regions in England to provide services as close as possible to where patients live. The Mesh Centres are:

• Cambridge University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust
• Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust
• Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust
• Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• University College Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
• University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust
• University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust
• North Bristol NHS Trust

Education and training for GPs on the treatment available for patients with complications of mesh and how to refer patients to the specialised Mesh Centre services.

An e-learning programme has been developed for GPs to help enhance their understanding of mesh complications, and the treatment options available to patients at the Mesh Centres and how to refer patients to them. This programme is available through e-learning for healthcare and can be accessed using the following link: Pelvic mesh complications – elearning for healthcare (e-lfh.org.uk)

Mesh complications training pathway

In addition to the education and training for GPs, the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecologists has developed an online Mesh Complications Training Pathway to provide surgeons with additional training to support the management of patients with a complications linked to mesh insertion for stress urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse. This training pathway can be accessed using the following link: Mesh Complications Management Training Pathway (rcog.org.uk)

Useful links

Set out below are links to publicly available information, reports and resources that will be of interest to patients and health care professionals relating to mesh complications for stress urinary incontinence and vaginal organ prolapse.

Patient Safety and Patient Voice

The First Do No Harm report produced by the Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review that was Chaired by Baroness Cumberlege, provided a range of recommendations following a review of pelvic mesh. This included the setup of the nine Mesh Centres in England. A further recommendation resulting from this report was a new patient safety commissioner role to champion the patient voice. This new role aids improving safety relating to medicines and medical devices and ensuring that all patient voices are heard.

National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – patient decision aids

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) make evidence-based recommendations on a wide range of topics and are responsible for creating clinical guidelines. As part of supporting patients with experience of complications of pelvic mesh, NICE have published two patient decision aids to support patients seeking treatment in relation to mesh complications for both stress urinary incontinence and vaginal prolapse.

Patient information resources

The British Society of Urogynaecology (BSUG) produce a range of information leaflets for patients and have links available to other resources. The British Association of Urological Surgeons (BAUS) equally creates a wide range of patient information available through their website.