Sling The Mesh in the news: 2026
JUNE
ITV The government has been urged to make a decision on compensation for people who have suffered avoidable harm from pelvic mesh and the epilepsy drug sodium valproate.
The Independent Kath Sansom, founder of campaign group Sling the Mesh, said the “evidence has been undeniable about the thousands of women living with devastating, irreversible injuries caused by treatments they trusted. These women did everything right. They trusted their doctors. And for that trust, they’ve paid with their health, their jobs, their savings, and for some their marriages, but moreover their sense of self.”
Sky News In 2024, the Hughes Report called for a two-stage redress scheme for patients affected by vaginal mesh and sodium valproate. It was hoped these would come into effect late last year, but no compensation has been paid.
The Telegraph Labour has been urged to make a decision on compensation for people who have suffered avoidable harm from pelvic mesh and the epilepsy drug sodium valproate.
LBC Campaigners have urged the Government to act, saying compensation “is not optional and is long overdue”. Kath Sansom said: “They”Women should not be forced to fight through the courts for justice over a piece of plastic mesh that has shattered their lives. The Government must act now. Full, fair and urgent financial compensation is not optional, it is long overdue.”
Patient Safety Commissioner blog Prof Henrietta Hughes, has written to No.10 to request further information in relation to the Hughes Report exercising her statutory powers under the Medicines and Medical Devices Act for the second time since her appointment. The deadline for a response to her request is 16 July.
London Daily Dr. Henrietta Hughes urges government action as women affected by pelvic mesh implants await financial redress. Dr. Henrietta Hughes, the Patient Safety Commissioner for the UK, has expressed disappointment over the government’s lack of action regarding financial compensation for women adversely affected by the pelvic mesh scandal.
Patient Safety Learning Hub The government is under renewed pressure to decide on compensation for individuals who have suffered avoidable harm from pelvic mesh and the epilepsy drug sodium valproate. More than two years after the Hughes Report called for a two-stage redress scheme, its author, Professor Henrietta Hughes, England’s patient safety commissioner, has expressed disappointment over the “continued absence of visible and timely progress”.
BBC Radio 4 Money, Influence and the NHS. Sling The Mesh included in a 3-part radio series on how conflicts of interest can affect our care.
Law Society Gazette Rarely does the Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal offer an outspoken moral judgement on the behaviour of a respondent. Its description of Darren Hanison, former sole practitioner with Sussex firm Fortitude Law, as ‘deplorable’ was therefore an indication of how appalled the panel had been with the misconduct laid out before it.
Eastern Daily Press Andy Wells has been forced to give up work and his wife is now his carer following complications from a hernia mesh.
Law Society Gazette A trusted solicitor who took advantage of vulnerable victims of the mesh implant scandal has been struck off for a catalogue of lies and cover-ups. The Solicitors Disciplinary Tribunal concluded that Darren Hanison’s behaviour had been ‘deplorable’.
Law Society Gazette Kath Sansom, founder of Sling the Mesh, said the actions of Hanison had caused huge distress and anger among the women and men already living with the physical and emotional consequences of mesh complications. Hanison was supposed to support them through complex medical negligence cases. Instead, they were deceived, manipulated, and used for his own gain. His conduct was unethical and a serious and deliberate abuse of power.
BBC NI Susan McLarnon went to 10 Downing Street to represent thousands of women across the UK who have experienced serious complications after being given a vaginal mesh implant to treat a prolapse and urinary incontinence. She now lives in “constant pain” and is calling for the government to commit to a deadline for a redress scheme. McLarnon is one of several women who travelled to Downing Street to hand a letter to the prime minister asking for “urgent action” to be taken on compensation for those harmed by pelvic mesh implants.
Eastern Daily Press Women whose lives have been devastated by pelvic mesh implants took their fight for justice to the heart of government this week, demanding long-promised compensation for what has been described as one of the biggest medical scandals in NHS history.
Bucks Free Press Women injured by pelvic mesh implants have renewed calls for compensation when Amersham MP Sarah Green hosted a Parliamentary event to mark International Women’s Day, alongside the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) First Do No Harm.
Cambs Times A Cambridgeshire mum and health campaigner has written to the Prime Minister to call for urgent compensation for women harmed by pelvic mesh. Kath Sansom, who runs Sling the Mesh, wants the government to “fulfil its commitments and deliver justice and compensation to thousands of women” who have suffered adverse effects from pelvic mesh implants, including rectopexy mesh.
BBC Woman’s Hour Patient Safety Commissioner Dr Henrietta Hughes and Sling The Mesh founder Kath Sansom discuss compensation for women harmed by pelvic mesh.
The Guardian Failure to compensate pelvic mesh implant victims is ‘morally unacceptable’, say campaigners. Two years after the Hughes Report published women are still waiting for a commitment from the government on financial redress.
Eastern Daily Press A routine operation offered to Norwich mother-of-three Rebecca Raisbeck for a common post childbirth condition went catastrophically wrong – leaving her life in ruins.
Eastern Daily Press A former Eastern Daily Press journalist has taken her campaign to support women medically injured by pelvic mesh to parliament this month, as MPs urge the government to commit to a compensation scheme.
Norwich Evening News Rebecca’s autistic daughter had to move out of the family home and into an assisted living facility because she no longer had the strength to support her. Now she lives with the heartbreak of losing her old life and daily, unrelenting pain.
Cambs Times Kath Sansom, founder of the Sling The Mesh, has spoken out on behalf of women harmed by pelvic mesh and families affected by sodium valproate exposure, who are still waiting for government action two years after the release of the Hughes Report in February 2024.
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