Women’s pain is still being treated as “normal” across parts of the NHS, a health summit in Wales has heard, as a patient harmed by a vaginal mesh implant described years of debilitating symptoms and not being taken seriously until her husband intervened.
Patient’s ordeal underscores systemic problem
Donna Davies, 56, from Swansea, said she lived in constant pain after receiving a vaginal mesh device nearly two decades ago to treat stress urinary incontinence. The procedure has since been paused within the NHS. She told the summit she felt her concerns were dismissed repeatedly until a male relative spoke up on her behalf.
“The mesh was leaving me in daily pain – the only way I can explain it was that I was being cut by glass every time I moved,” she said. “I didn’t feel as if I was believed and I didn’t feel my pain was acknowledged until my husband spoke up… then I felt that the surgeon believed my husband.”
Davies eventually had the device removed. Surgeons created a sling using her own tissue during a total hysterectomy. She says she has never fully recovered, lives with ongoing neuropathic pain and now faces the removal of her large bowel and a permanent stoma.
Access gaps between nations
Highlighting uneven access to support, Davies said there are no specialist services in Wales for women with complications like hers, while nine specialist centres operate in England. She is one of an estimated 100,000 women in the UK who underwent mesh procedures for incontinence or prolapse.
| Issue | Figure/Status |
|---|---|
| UK women who received mesh for incontinence/prolapse | ~100,000 |
| Specialist centres in England | 9 |
| Specialist services in Wales | None reported |
Minister pledges to strengthen women’s voice
Wales’s women’s health minister, Delyth Jewell, told the summit she intends to tighten requirements on health boards so that women are actively involved in shaping services designed for them.
“I am determined to strengthen women’s voices so that women will be believed about their bodies,” she said. “I wonder how many women will have heard the words ‘this might hurt’ when they go to the doctor? That shouldn’t be normal. Too often women’s health services are considered a ‘should’ not a ‘must’.”
Why this matters for the NHS
The testimony reflects a wider pattern reported by patients across the UK: women’s symptoms—especially pain—can be minimised or attributed to everyday experiences, delaying diagnosis and compounding harm. While the mesh procedure has been paused, the legacy of earlier implants continues to shape demand for specialist assessment, removal and long-term care. The discrepancy in access between England and Wales adds pressure on cross-border pathways and raises questions about equity within a four-nation NHS landscape.
Next steps and accountability
At the summit, the emphasis fell on embedding women’s perspectives from the outset of service design and on ensuring that clinical pathways do not default to normalising pain. For patients already affected, consistent access to specialist review and aftercare remains a pressing need. The minister’s stated aim to require women’s participation in planning may set a clearer duty for health boards; its impact will depend on implementation, transparency and sustained engagement with those living with complications.
- Donna Davies described severe and ongoing pain after a mesh implant, and felt believed only when a male relative spoke up.
- Wales has no dedicated specialist services for mesh-related harm, while England has nine.
- Ministers in Wales indicated plans to make women’s inclusion in service design a formal requirement.
For women experiencing pain after pelvic procedures, today’s message was that being heard—and believed—cannot be an optional extra. It is the foundation of safe care.
