• Two years and still no compensation for harmed women
• Patient Safety Commissioner pledges to take the matter direct to 10 Downing Street

Calls are being made for the government to commit to a compensation scheme as the second anniversary approaches of a landmark report setting out steps needed to support women harmed by health treatments.

February 2026 marks the second anniversary of the Hughes Report, a defining moment in the fight for compensation and justice for women harmed by pelvic mesh medical devices and for families affected by sodium valproate’s harm to developing babies.

The Hughes Report, published in February 2024, sets out a clear and urgent case for redress, and greater accountability across the healthcare system.

Two years on, the call for action has grown louder. Women and families living with life changing harm continue to wait for the Government to implement compensation in the Hughes Report’s recommendations – a delay that campaigners warn is deepening the injustice already endured.

Kath Sansom, founder of Sling The Mesh, said: “Women harmed by mesh are suffering right now. Whilst the Government continues to stall on compensation, it does not put women’s problems on hold. Many have lost careers, pensions, relationships and are living with life changing pain, repeated infections, and the daily struggle to walk or sit without pain. Everyone in the support group has had their quality of life impacted. The damage to women’s mental health is profound and far‑reaching. Too many lives have been shattered, yet women are still waiting for the justice and support they deserve. We were assured we were receiving a gold‑standard fix and were given no warning at all about devastating complications. The reality of mesh could not have been further from the zero to low-risk promise.”

MP Sharon Hodgson, chair of the First Do No Harm All Party Parliamentary Group, said: “No government response to the Hughes report after two long years since its publication is insulting to the thousands of mesh and valproate harmed women and children. This is more than just a response to a report – this is about restorative justice.

“Compensation for those harmed by mesh and valproate would allow them to begin to rebuild their lives; lives which have changed irreversibly through no fault of their own, lives which will never ever be the same again. We cannot reverse the damage done, but we can do the right thing.

“After all the gaslighting and medical misogyny these women have experienced, compensation would say loud and clear – it was not all in your head, it was not all your fault – what happened was wrong and we recognise that.

“Parliamentarians, campaigners, patients and representatives are not going anywhere. The time for words and excuses is up; the government must act now.”

Patient Safety Commissioner Professor Henrietta Hughes said: “Two years on from my report, thousands of patients and families are still waiting for the financial redress they deserve. The evidence was clear, the recommendations were specific, yet there has been no timeframe for action.

“These are not abstract policy questions; they are about real people whose lives have been fundamentally changed by systemic failures in healthcare. Every month of delay compounds the injustice these patients have already endured.

 “The Department of Health and Social Care cannot deliver this alone, financial redress requires Treasury and Number 10 to act. I will be approaching Number 10 directly to secure the commitment to action that has been missing for two years.”

The Hughes Report was commissioned directly in response to the 2020 First Do No Harm review led by Baroness Cumberlege, which outlined nine essential recommendations for delivering justice to women avoidably harmed by health treatments.