The Government has admitted there is no plan to roll out life-saving NHS bone clinics, despite promising to make it one of the “first acts” if Labour won the election. Halfway through Sir Keir Starmer’s time in Downing Street, Health Minister Baroness Merron has confirmed there is no implementation plan and no “milestones” set out for delivering Fracture Liaison Services (FLS).
In fact, there has been no progress at all to roll out the policy enshrined in the NHS 10-Year Health Plan. When asked a question in Parliament about timelines for the Government’s previous commitment to deliver FLS to all areas of England by 2030, Baroness Merron said: “The Government has not set annual milestones for the rollout of Fracture Liaison Services.” However, she added: “Our 10-Year Health Plan committed to rolling out Fracture Liaison Services across every part of the country by 2030.”
Labour Peer Baroness Hayter of Kentish Town had asked what assessment they have made of the “need for annual milestones for the rollout of Fracture Liaison Services to all areas of England by 2030; and whether any such milestones have been set.” June marks two years since former Health Secretary Wes Streeting first committed the Labour Government in a pre-election pledge to deliver FLS across England by 2030, saying it would be one of his department’s first acts.
The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) said 24 of the 60 NHS Trusts missing FLS should be covered at this point - yet the actual number stands at zero. The ROS estimates 2,000 people die each year from preventable hip fractures that could have been prevented by an FLS. Ministers have promised these clinics 63 times in Parliament and the media since the election and it is the Labour Government’s most frequently restated health policy.
Craig Jones, Chief Executive of the ROS said: “To have any hope of rolling out these lifesaving clinics to every area by 2030, work would need to start immediately. So, it's incredibly worrying to learn that no milestones have been set and there doesn't seem to be any plan in place to make progress. It's clear this policy is in serious trouble, and we desperately need James Murray to rescue it by publishing the much-needed plan before summer recess.”
One in two women and one in five men over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis, and an estimated 3.5 million people have it in the UK. Osteoporosis causes 500,000 broken bones every year in the UK, costing over £4.5 billion.
