A GRANDMOTHER has joined the ranks of campaigners calling on the Welsh Government to take action on the use of polypropene mesh saying it has it left her with a “lifetime of pain”.

Barry resident Pauline Inch has described how keyhole surgery to remove her gall bladder went wrong and the surgical mesh was implanted to solve problems which arose subsequently.

The former civil servant, 61, of Newlands Road, has been in contact with Vale AM Jane Hutt and says she wants ministers to ban the material’s use to prevent other patients undergoing a similar ordeal.

Surgeons use surgical mesh as a medical tool to support organs within the body.

It has a variety of functions, but is commonly used to rectify bowel and bladder problems.

A campaign calling for the ban of the medical device has gained traction in recent years with recipients reporting experiencing severe, chronic pain following surgery, immediately after or years later.

Some women have been left in agony, unable to walk, work, or have sex when the mesh erodes and slices into organs.

Mrs Inch said: “In 2000 I had keyhole surgery to remove my gall bladder. I was told it would be straightforward.

“Within hours I was having life-saving surgery.”

Subsequently mesh was implanted in 2004 to remedy a hernia and in 2013 it was found that the mesh had wrapped around her organs and her body was rejecting the mesh.

Mrs Inch is now in constant pain and virtually housebound having lost her formerly active life.

The mesh can never be removed.

She said: “It’s like a Chinese burn inside and there’s also a feeling like a barbed wire pain. I cannot sleep through the pain. I have polypropene mesh inside me which is poisoning me.”

A Welsh Government spokeswoman said the working group on vaginal mesh was expected to complete its research at the end of January and would report after that.

Vale AM Jane Hutt said: “I have been supporting patients suffering from adverse effects of polypropylene mesh and tape since 2012, and will be attending a meeting with the health secretary about the issues next week.

“I welcome the formation of the Welsh Mesh Working Group by the cabinet secretary for health.”