Advice on breast implants

The NHS will support women with PiP breast implants

The Chief Medical Officer, Dame Sally Davies, has written to health professionals, with some more detailed guidance.

The latest advice from the NHS and plastic surgery experts is that women with PiP breast implants do not need to have them removed unless they have symptoms such as pain and tenderness.

There is no link to cancer and there is no clear evidence of an increased risk of harm compared to other brands of breast implants.

For more information, go to PIP breast implants from the NHS. Read the letter from the Chief Medical Officer on the Department of Health website.

 

Latest weekly PIP implant data - released 20 April 2012 by the Department of Health

(Covering the period 6th January to 15th April 2012)

This release covers two weekly data collections monitoring the "NHS Offer" for patients who have had PIP implants.

First collection - monitors the extent to which patients who had PIP implants implanted privately have presented to the NHS.

Second collection - tracks the care of those women who have previously had PIP implants implanted by the NHS. This collection covers the seven NHS providers which had used PIP implants on NHS patients in the past.

Key points:

Private PIP implants

• A total of 6,124 referrals have now been received, 144 of these were received during the last week (ie week ending 15 April).
• These referrals have been received by 121 trusts.
• 3,423 scans have now been completed and 149 of these were during the last week.
• The number of decisions to explant now stands at 391 and 166 of these have been explanted to date.
• 2,196 women have completed their NHS offer and 101 of these have been this week.
• This collection splits the private patient data into 3 categories (Harley, Transform and Other). Harley and Transform are separately identified because, according the available information, they have the largest number of patients with PIP implants. "Other" includes unknown so some of these patients may be identified in later weeks as Harley or Transform patients.

NHS PIP implants

• The latest estimate of the number of women with NHS PIP implants in place on 6th January is 826.
• A total of 824 women have been contacted to date.
• 67 scans have been completed. 183 decisions have been made to explant and 44 explants have already taken place.
• 50 women have completed their NHS offer

Full tables are available here:

http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/Performancedataandstatistics/PIPBreastImplants/index.htm

 

Last updated 23 April, 2012