Chamber and committees

Appendix D of the Final Report contains the table from the Interim Report's Chapter 6, and Annex A contains the evidence tables referenced in the Interim Report's chapter 5. The evidence from the Interim Report was built upon by new evidence to provide the Independent Review with its final conclusions. For transparency, all the evidence has been published.

Questions asked in the Chamber are the responsibility of the Member. Scottish Government officials serve the Scottish Ministers and provide no support to Members appointed as Parliamentary Liaison Officers.

Members were asked to complete standard Scottish Government declarations of interests, which cover a 12 month period.

The evidence considered by the Independent Review, and the conclusions drawn from it, are outlined in its Final Report. The conclusions reflect the need to offer mesh and non-mesh procedures for stress urinary incontinence, and also that mesh should not be offered routinely in the case of prolapse surgery. The conclusions also note that women should be given all necessary information and advice to allow them to make an informed decision on the best treatment in their case.

When I met with Ms McIlroy and Ms Holmes they requested that their minority report be removed from the Independent Review's Final Report. I relayed this to the Chair of the Review and she acceded to this request. Subsequently, Ms McIlroy and Ms Holmes asked that further material be removed and this request was, again, relayed to the Chair. However, the Chair confirmed that, by that point, the Final Report had been submitted to the Chief Medical Officer, and no further changes could therefore be made. Any changes to the Report were a matter for the Chair to decide upon, not Scottish Government Ministers or officials.

The Chief Medical Officer has accepted the conclusions made by the Independent Review in its Final Report, Health Boards have been asked to take them forward, an Oversight Group is being established to work with Health Boards in doing so, and an expert will be appointed to examine the process of the Independent Review. Furthermore, arrangements are presently being made for my appearance at the Public Petitions Committee on 18 May. I have also agreed to meet with the opposition spokespeople on health to discuss these matters further.

The Independent Review’s Final Report made clear that, at the time of writing, it was anticipated that the new EU Medical Device Regulations would include a change to the classification of surgical mesh devices intended for long-term or permanent use.

It is now confirmed that the new EU Regulations, subject to their formal adoption, will up-classify surgical meshes to Class III. The new Regulations can be viewed here: http://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-10728-2016-REV-4/EN/pdf.

The Final Report builds upon the findings of the Interim Report, taking into account additional evidence and experiences that were not yet available at the time the Interim Report was produced.

The Independent Review's Final Report concludes that mesh procedures should not be offered routinely in the case of prolapse, and the Chief Medical Officer has accepted this conclusion. However, in each individual patient's case it is necessary to apply individually focused clinical care, and there will be exceptions where this type of operation is considered suitable, subject to agreement by the patient and her clinicians. The Oversight Group that is being established will be expected to continue to be provided with - and review - the routine data on number of cases and complications.

The Independent Review members considered it appropriate that all evidence considered by the Review be grouped together in chapters 4 and 5, whilst chapter 6 includes commentary on that evidence. The table that was included in chapter 6 of the Interim Report is, however, included in the Final Report as an annex. The tables developed by a single clinician are included in chapter 5 where agreed by the Independent Review, and for transparency the tables are published in totality on the website.