Campaigners seeking to end a postcode lottery in osteoporosis treatment have welcomed a pledge by new Health Secretary Yvette Cooper to investigate delays in rolling out new services. The Sunday Express’s Better Bones campaign had previously secured a Labour pledge, ahead of the 2024 election, to ensure universal access to services that check for the bone disease after a first fracture.
Concerns Over Slow Progress
There is deep concern at the lack of progress in establishing fracture liaison services (FLS) in the roughly half of NHS trusts where these are absent. Osteoporosis causes more than 500,000 broken bones every year in the UK, at a cost of more than £4.5 billion for the NHS and social care systems, according to the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS).
Campaigners say Cooper, who has replaced Wes Streeting, has promised to look into what is holding up the roll-out of the promised services across England. The absence of a national delivery plan is a top concern, and volunteers from the ROS quizzed ministers at the Labour party conference in Liverpool.
Minister and Campaigner Responses
Health minister Dame Diana Johnson told volunteers: “On this issue about fracture clinics, I have to put my hands up and say I don’t know, but I’m very happy to go away and find out… I will find out what the answer is.”
Corinne Turnbull, from Hove, who was diagnosed with osteoporosis at 39 following a fall that resulted in the discovery of a pelvic fracture and seven spinal fractures, spoke directly with the Health Secretary. She said: “Yvette was genuinely surprised when I explained that since the election only a fraction of the 59 services needed to deliver universal coverage have actually opened. She is rightly focused on women's health, with a strong eye on maternity and the early years, but we agreed that women's healthcare cannot simply fall off a cliff edge as women get older. Services which help older women remain healthy, active and independent are crucial too… The Government has committed to universal fracture liaison services by 2030 and now we need to see a credible plan that turns that commitment into reality.”
Government Commitment and Potential Benefits
Ruth Wakeman of ROS said: “Patients have already been waiting for more than two years, after her predecessor said before the election that a national rollout plan would be one of his first acts in Government… Universal access could prevent 74,000 fractures, save the NHS £665million and release 750,000 hospital bed days over five years.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: "We know osteoporosis can have a devastating impact on people's health, independence and quality of life. That's why our 10-year health plan committed to rolling out fracture liaison services across England by 2030. We are also investing in 20 new state-of-the-art DEXA scanners, building on the 13 already being rolled out. These new machines will help diagnose fragile bones earlier and prevent painful, life-changing fractures - particularly among older people and women, who are disproportionately affected by osteoporosis."
