Women's Health Articles

Latest monthly PIP implant statistics were released today (18 January 2013) by the Department of Health. The data covers the period 6 January to 31 December 2012.

This release covers two monthly data collections monitoring the “NHS Offer” for patients who have had PIP implants.

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

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

This submission is the fifth monthly submission.  Previous data was weekly with the final week’s data being for the week ended 29July 2012.

This is the final publication of monthly monitoring data. The volume of new referrals has continued to decline each month, and it is felt that the vast majority of women who would turn to the NHS for the necessary clinical reassurance have now done so.

The key points from the latest data are:

Private PIP implants

• A total of 7,974 referrals have now been received, 47 of these were received during the last month (i.e. month ending 31 December).
• These referrals have been received by 121 trusts.
• 5,316  scans have now been completed and 36 of these were during the last month (i.e. December 2012).
• The number of decisions to explant now stands at 650. Of these 650 there have been 431 explants to date.
• 4,371 women have completed their NHS offer and 35 of these have been this month.
• 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 both those known to be neither Harley nor Transform, and Harley and Transform patients whose classification is currently unknown.

NHS PIP implants

• The latest estimate of the number of women with NHS PIP implants in place on 6^th January 2012 is 833.
• 827 women have been contacted.
• 134 scans have been completed.  403 decisions have been made to explant and 326 explants have already taken place.
• 446 women have completed their NHS offer.

Full tables are available on the Department of Health website.

The point at which the NHS offer is completed will vary according to the circumstances of each woman. Some women will simply want reassurance, others will decide after clinical advice to have their implants explanted by the NHS.