𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has been urged to intervene and “break the logjam” so the Government delivers on its promise to end the postcode lottery which means people across England miss out on checks for osteoporosis. Mr Streeting backed the Sunday Express’s Better Bones campaign ahead of the 2024 election and promised to roll-out services which could check patients for the potentially fatal bone disease when they first showed up with a broken bone. Campaigners are dismayed at the lack of progress since Labour came to power and warn “lives are being lost”.

Kevin Shinkwin, a Conservative member of the House of Lords who was born with osteogenesis imperfecta – also known as brittle bone disease, called on the Health Secretary to roll-out the fracture liaison services (FLS).

He told the Sunday Express: “Wes Streeting was clear in opposition that the delay in rolling out FLS was a betrayal of patients. During the election he said he would be different and that he would make sure the roll-out plan was one of the first things he’d do as Health Secretary.

“So, I don’t understand why nothing has happened. This is a rare cross-party issue for which he would receive warm praise from me as a Conservative as well as from colleagues across the political spectrum if he announced the long-awaited roll-out plan. Sadly, time is not on our side. In fact, even more lives are being lost under Labour because of the failure to roll out FLS than under the Conservatives. As someone with a bone condition, I call on him to intervene and break the logjam that’s holding this up.”

A Green party spokesperson also pressed for action, saying: “This was an important commitment by the Labour Government and they need to get on and deliver what they promised. U-turns, slow delivery or non-delivery are the hallmarks of this Government.”

A report from the all-party parliamentary group on osteoporosis and bone health earlier this year warned that more than half of people with the disease said they had no contract from the NHS about the condition in the past year. The MPs warned patients faced “a fragmented healthcare system that leaves most without basic diagnosis, treatment and monitoring”.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “The Government is committed to rolling out fracture liaison services by 2030, as set out in our 10-year health plan. But we’re also taking action in the meantime by investing in 20 new state-of-the-art DEXA scanners across the country, building on the first wave of 13 last year.

“The 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.”