Baroness Cumberlege (Con)

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords who have decided to speak in this short debate. I thank them for taking part and look forward to their contributions, as well as to the Minister’s reply. This is a subject that I feel very passionate about, and I welcome any support that your Lordships choose to give. I was delighted to read that 140 mesh-harmed patients have received some redress, for it is long overdue. However, there are thousands of others harmed by mesh, still suffering, who are not included in the settlement. It is not just about mesh. In our report First Do No Harm, we recommended that those harmed by vaginal mesh, but also by the use of sodium valproate and by Primodos, should also receive redress. It took me and my team two and half years to travel the country and gather the evidence, in the course of which we heard so many terrible stories of women who had been avoidably harmed. I have shared many of these stories with noble Lords during previous debates. Our report was published in July 2020, and I am sorry to say that I am still receiving emails today from women who are suffering so dreadfully, some of whom have now been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and are not being offered the support that they need. I have listened to women who have had to borrow money to have failed mesh implants removed privately and are now in considerable debt. Women who were prescribed sodium valproate and Primodos have children, many now adults, who will never be able to live independent lives after being exposed to the harm done by these drugs. These mothers bear great sadness from mis-prescribing. However, I am delighted to see that the current data indicates that there is almost no prescribing of sodium valproate during pregnancy. I hope that this means an end to ongoing harm, but there are so many who have been harmed and still need our help. It is important to recognise that there was a failure on the part of the NHS to stop doctors prescribing sodium valproate immediately that the risks were known. I believe that the NHS must bear some of the responsibility for this. The same goes for those who were given Primodos. The Hughes report, published in February 2024, had 10 recommendations, the first being that the Government had a responsibility to create an ex-gratia redress scheme. I believe that scheme needs to be put in place now, with interim payments being made as soon as possible. I was delighted to see how quickly the system was able to respond to the Infected Blood Inquiry. I therefore fail to see why these avoidably harmed people should be made to wait any longer. Can the Minister say whether the Government have reflected on the role of the manufacturers of these medical interventions? The Government should shoulder the responsibility for redress and then pursue the manufacturers for their share of these catastrophes. I am pleased to see that the subject of redress is on the agenda of the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, and that she met the Patient Safety Commissioner at the beginning of August. I am determined that all those affected by mesh, and the many others whose lives have been shattered by the effects of sodium valproate and Primodos, should receive the redress that they so richly deserve. These people have suffered enough; surely we should not be forcing them down such an adversarial route as taking action against the manufacturers when the damage done is so clear. The great majority of women cannot afford to bring lawsuits against the mighty drug companies; too many of them fail, and this was not their fault. They are not being offered the support they need.