The Cumberlege Report and the development of the UK mesh centre network

Abstract

Very few clinical debates have been as emotionally charged as the transvaginal mesh debate. The public furore over its use led to an independent enquiry, the IMMDS Review (Independent Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Review) better known as the Cumberlege Review after Baroness Cumberlege who led it. The report of the two year long enquiry was published in July 2020 and recommendations to avoid similar situations arising in future were made. One of the recommendations was the establishment of Mesh Centres which could provide standardised care to women with mesh complications irres-pective of where they presented in the UK. Lessons need to be learned from the mesh saga, and though innovation cannot be stifled, safeguards to protect patients must be put in place when any new procedure or intervention is introduced into clinical practice.