MPs and House of Lords peers urge Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to provide £30m in Spring Budget to end osteoporosis postcode lottery

  • Fraction Liaison Services (FLS) identify the condition to prevent painful fractures
  • A large majority of women are suffering preventable broken bones  

By Ruth Sunderland and Anna Mikhailova

Published: | Updated:

Peers and MPs are today calling on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to end the postcode lottery for a devastating bone disease affecting millions of women.

Pressure is mounting on Mr Hunt to provide money in next month's Budget for the early detection of the brittle-bone condition osteoporosis throughout the UK – by funding Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) in every NHS Trust in England and Wales.

These services, which identify osteoporosis early and so prevent painful – and sometimes life-shortening – fractures, are in operation throughout Scotland and Northern Ireland, as well as in 57 countries worldwide. However, they only are available in just over half of England and Wales's NHS Trusts.

As a result, tens of thousands of people – a large majority of them women – are suffering preventable broken bones and missing out on much-needed treatment.

Peers and MPs are today calling on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to end the postcode lottery for a devastating bone disease affecting millions of women

Peers and MPs are today calling on Chancellor Jeremy Hunt to end the postcode lottery for a devastating bone disease affecting millions of women

Tens of thousands of people ¿ a large majority of them women ¿ are suffering preventable broken bones and missing out on much-needed treatment

Tens of thousands of people – a large majority of them women – are suffering preventable broken bones and missing out on much-needed treatment

Extending the services would cost just £30 million a year, campaigners say, and result in far bigger savings for the NHS in the longer term. Politicians from both Houses and all three major parties have backed The Mail on Sunday's calls to extend FLS across the whole of the UK.

Baroness Meyer, a crossbench peer, highlighted the fact that two-thirds of people who need anti-osteoporosis medications are missing out on treatment. This adds up to around 90,000 people a year – again, mostly women. 

Baroness Meyer described it as shocking that people 'do not realise that they are at risk of osteoporosis, simply because there are not enough Fracture Liaison Services available across the country.' 

Ruth Sunderland: My 3-point plan to ensure everyone gets the correct treatment

I was diagnosed with osteoporosis at the Fracture Liaison Service at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital after breaking my shoulder – and I wrote about my plight in The Mail on Sunday’s Health section last month, right. 

I am now receiving treatment – but I want everyone to have the same high standard of care I was offered. Here is my manifesto:

• End the lottery: Make Fracture Liaison Services available in every NHS Trust in England and Wales so everyone in the UK over 50 who breaks a bone can be assessed for osteoporosis.

• Raise awareness: Include a risk assessment for bone weakness in the free health checks offered by the NHS to people aged 40 to 74.

• Screen at 70: Hip fractures are heart-attack level events. Systematic screening for risk should be introduced from the age of 70.

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Dame Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP for Barking, said the postcode lottery 'has resulted in a dire situation' and that 'the Budget provides a perfect opportunity to put this right'. 

Harriett Baldwin, the Tory chairwoman of the Treasury Select Committee, declared: 'I support The Mail on Sunday's campaign to improve diagnosis and treatment'.

Daisy Cooper, the Liberal Democrat deputy leader and health spokeswoman, said 'the Government must come forward with a commitment to prevent suffering by extending Fracture Liaison Services to everyone over 50.

Even the Government's own Health Minister in the Upper House, Lord Markham, said last week there is a 'very strong case', adding that it is 'something that we are really looking to progress'. Former Labour Health Secretary Lord Blunkett also lined up in support, as did Matt Hancock, the former Tory Health Secretary, and Wes Streeting, the Shadow Health Secretary.

Osteoporosis is the UK's fourth most harmful health condition in terms of disability and premature death, surpassed only by coronary heart disease, dementia and lung cancer. It is also a financial drain on the taxpayer, with the care for broken hips alone costing around £2 billion a year. 

Mr Hunt is short of money for his March 6 Budget but calculations by the Royal Osteoporosis Society show that a modest annual investment of £30 million to extend FLS would more than pay for itself, leading to an overall benefit of £440 million in the first five years.

Baroness Altmann said: 'This will ultimately save huge sums to the NHS.' Carolyn Harris, Labour MP for Swansea East, added that early detection is 'crucial', leading to better outcomes for patients and reduced NHS costs.

Craig Jones, chief executive of the Royal Osteoporosis Society, said that rolling out FLS across England and Wales could prevent up to 750,000 of the 2.6 million annual sick days caused by fractures. Some 81,000 working-age people suffer fractures each year and a third are forced to quit their jobs and go on to benefits.

Also backing the call is Dr Paula Briggs, chairwoman of the British Menopause Society, who said: 'Following menopause, without intervention, women lose 1 per cent of their bone mass annually and half of women over 50 will suffer a fracture because of osteoporosis. The Government should act now.'

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