In the coming weeks, our country’s airports will get busier. Despite the international fuel situation, many will take to the skies. Young families will head off to campsites in France, solo travellers will embark on adventures in Asia and couples will explore cities like Paris or Prague.

Amongst those travellers will also be those heading off for medical procedures that they cannot either obtain or afford in this country.

Vithas Medimar Hospital in Alicante will be the destination for some women looking for a solution to stress urinary incontinence (SUI) something that effects up to 50% of women at some stage in their life.

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For some it may be an occasional leak, but for others, their bladder issues mean they are wetting themselves every day. Twenty-five Irish women have already taken the trip to Spain in the past six months for mid-urethral sling surgery (also known as vaginal mesh surgery), receiving care from Professor Barry O’Reilly, a consultant obstetrician and gynaecologist in Cork, who has registered as a specialist with the Spanish Medical Council.

He performs this surgery on Irish women in another country, offering pre and post-surgery care at home.

This is a story that health writer Rosalind Skillen has been following. Last summer, in a four-page special, Rosalind reported on mid-urethral sling surgery – a surgical solution to SUI. Following reports of women having negative effects after the surgery, it was put on pause in 2018. As many will remember, this wasn’t just a handful of women.

The Mesh Survivors Ireland group consists of over 800 women – some of whom reported chronic groin and pelvic pain as well as bladder and bowel problems. Margaret Byrne, spokesperson for Mesh Survivors Ireland told Irish Country Living that the surgery – and subsequent surgeries to try fix the problems caused – has left her doubly incontinent, meaning she has leakage of urine and stool involuntarily.

Given the extent and the number of women effected by this surgery, it couldn’t continue without being investigated. The then-Minster for Health Simon Harris paused the surgery, requesting a report on the use of urogynaecology mesh procedures. However, here we are eight years later.

Meanwhile, the surgery is carried out across Europe while Irish women are left dealing with embarrassing bladder issues. They cannot go for a walk, a run, they try not to laugh in public, in fear of being soaked

The report produced 19 recommendations which have been implemented but it is still sitting with the Department of Health – and has been for nearly two years. Meanwhile, the surgery is carried out across Europe while Irish women are left dealing with embarrassing bladder issues. They cannot go for a walk, a run, they try not to laugh in public, in fear of being soaked. On page 13, Kay Flynn describes giving work presentations and at the same time, wetting herself.

Mid-urethral sling surgery is not the only solution to SUI but, for some, it is likely their last resort. If the situation isn’t stressful enough, they have to get on a plane, have the surgery in a strange country and recover not in their own home but in a hotel after being discharged from hospital. Furthermore, while the Cross Border Directive covers the cost of the surgery, women have to pay €8,000 upfront, wait up to six months for re-imbursement and cover the costs of flights and accommodation themselves.

Women in this country do not deserve to have a surgery performed that leaves them in pain. But equally, women deserve a health system that will investigate a problem and have it rectified in a timely matter. A pause of eight years is not a timely matter – especially when women are wetting themselves every day.