This national framework exists because women have suffered significant avoidable harm as a result of surgical procedures involving mesh.[1] We owe it to these women to improve our health system to reduce the potential for future harm.
The aim of this framework is to provide a national credentialling framework for pelvic floor reconstructive procedures, urogynaecological procedures and procedures for mesh revision and/or removal.
The framework supports principles of holistic models of care, assessing not only the health professional’s technical ability but also their knowledge and judgement skills, the patient experience and the health team environment. Among other responsibilities, the framework aims to respond to the specific needs of Māori and acknowledges the government’s responsibility under Te Tiriti o Waitangi to work in partnership with Māori to improve health outcomes for our tangata whenua. Cultural safety is identified as a specific tenet of this framework.
The framework has been developed in consultation with the Surgical Mesh Roundtable; the Pelvic Floor Reconstructive Medicine and Uro-gynaecological Procedures Credentialling Committee; The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG); the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USANZ), which is a branch of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS); and consumers.
[1] Other terms used for mesh include tape, ribbon, scaffold, tension-free vaginal tape (TVT), trans-obturator tape (TOT), mid-urethral sling (MUS), sling, synthetic tissue, Mat (Dutch), graft and hammock.