It was hoped these would come into effect late last year, but no compensation has been paid.<\/p>\n
Read more: Victims of ‘avoidable harm’ still awaiting redress<\/a><\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n \n From 2025: Victims ‘let down’ by compensation delays\n <\/p>\n Patient Safety Commissioner for England Professor Henrietta Hughes, who authored the report, has now expressed disappointment over the “continued absence of visible and timely progress”.<\/p>\n In a letter to Downing Street, she said: “Given the seriousness of these findings, and the continued impact on patients and their families, it is disappointing that the government still hasn’t provided a substantive response to the Hughes Report.”<\/p>\n And speaking to Sky News nearly two and a half years after her report, Professor Hughes said: “This compounds the harm to patients and families who shared really sensitive, personal information with me and my team.<\/p>\n “On behalf of them, I do feel that this is more than frustrating; this is extremely disappointing.”<\/p>\n \n What is vaginal mesh and sodium valpropate?\n <\/p>\n The two medical practices were seperate scandals, both looked into with the Hughes Report – which controversially did not include a scheme for children allegedly damaged by Primodos<\/a>.<\/p>\n Thousands of babies are thought to have been harmed by sodium valproate use during pregnancies since the 1970s – which Sky News reported was hidden from women for decades.<\/a><\/p>\n The drug, used to treat epilepsy and bipolar disorder, is now known to cause birth defects and lifelong learning difficulties<\/a>. It impacted an estimated 20,000 families.<\/p>\n Transvaginal mesh implants were also used to treat pelvic organ prolapse and incontinence after childbirth between 1998 and 2020.<\/p>\n However, they have caused debilitating harm in some cases<\/a>, leading to women having their bladders or bowels removed.<\/p>\n The NHS restricted the use of these implants in 2018, and they are now used only as a last resort.<\/p>\n Share<\/p>\n \n From 2024: Govt told to act on victim payouts\n <\/p>\n Professor Hughes added that she sent the letter to Downing Street for more information under the Medicines and Medical Devices Act, with a response deadline set for 16 July.<\/p>\n She said she asked for what information had been discussed and shared within the government on talks of a redress scheme for victims.<\/p>\n “Families deserve an answer and families deserve justice,” she added.<\/p>\n “Putting this in the long grass, which has been happening now for over two years, is just a poor way to treat people, particularly those that have been harmed.”<\/p>\n Referencing the review into a Nottingham maternity scandal<\/a> where hundreds of mothers and babies died under the care of an NHS trust, Professor Hughes noted that Donna Ockenden “is concerned to use the word ‘recommendation’ in her report”.<\/p>\n As it happened: Act now, maternity scandal inquiry chair tells government<\/a><\/p>\n “Because she’s seen reports – like mine – where recommendations have been made to the government, after the government have requested the review, where no action has been taken,” Professor Hughes added.<\/p>\n “I think patients and families deserve better than that. I think that if the government requests a review, they should act swiftly on the recommendations that are made.”<\/p>\n See more from Sky News: A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We recognise the significant impact that sodium valproate and pelvic mesh have had on people and their families.<\/p>\n “This is a complex issue, and our priority is to ensure any response is fair, balanced and sensitive to those affected.<\/p>\n “We are carefully considering the recommendations within the Hughes Report, in collaboration with relevant departments, and we aim to provide an update in due course.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Victims who suffered debilitating pain and learning difficulties from pelvic mesh and an epilepsy drug must receive compensation,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":728742,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[97,243],"class_list":["post-728741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-medication","tag-health","tag-medication"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728741","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=728741"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/728741\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/728742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=728741"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=728741"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=728741"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/skynews-medical-harm-patients_6962059.jpg\")
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