Delays in the rollout of screening clinics for a bone-thinning disease are putting women’s lives at risk, say campaigners.
In a damning letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, eight organisations say they fear thousands will suffer preventable deaths if parts of Britain do not have access to fracture liaison services (FLS), crucial for early diagnosis of osteoporosis.
The disease affects 3.5 million people in the UK and one in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis.
The Mail on Sunday launched a campaign in 2023 to expand FLS to every part of England, backed by the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
The Government has committed to a full FLS rollout by 2030.
However, the organisations, including the British Menopause Society and the Royal Osteoporosis Society, fear that it is not happening fast enough.
The letter – first seen by this newspaper – says: ‘We are concerned that signs of delay have begun to emerge.
‘If implementation does not begin until 2027, 2028 or 2029, around 2,500 each year will die needlessly in the meantime, most of them women, and thousands more will be left with preventable pain and disability.
In a damning letter to Health Secretary Wes Streeting, eight organisations say they fear thousands will suffer preventable deaths if parts of Britain do not have access to fracture liaison services (FLS), crucial for early diagnosis of osteoporosis
The disease affects 3.5 million people in the UK and one in two women over 50 will break a bone because of osteoporosis
‘Women’s health issues have too often been delayed or sidelined in the past. We cannot let this be another example.’
FLS aim to predict bone breaks earlier in patients’ lives with a bone density test, a DEXA scan. If signs of osteoporosis are spotted, patients can be given bone-preserving drugs sooner, leading to fewer fractures.
The drugs cost as little as £1 a week per patient and can prevent life threatening hip fractures.
More than a quarter of hip fracture patients die within a year and one in ten dies within a month, says the National Institute For Health And Clinical Excellence.
The Royal Osteoporosis Society estimates 2,500 die every year from preventable hip fractures. Its analysis suggests osteoporosis victims will suffer 74,000 preventable fractures by 2030, including 31,000 life-threatening hip fractures.
Research also suggests that full rollout of FLS will slash waiting lists. Analysis by the Royal Osteoporosis Society shows 36,000 hospital beds could be made available every winter by fulfilling the pledge.
Earlier this year this newspaper revealed that people in parts of Britain with no screening for osteoporosis are suffering more life-threatening hip fractures – with the highest fracture rate being in North East areas which do not have FLS.
This newspaper’s War on Osteoporosis campaign has been spearheaded by the Mail’s Group Business Editor Ruth Sunderland after her osteoporosis diagnosis.
The Queen said that the campaign by Mail Group Business Editor Ruth Sunderland has ‘really has put osteoporosis on the map’
The Queen said that Ruth has ‘really has put osteoporosis on the map’. Yet despite the Royal endorsement, campaigners say the rollout of FLS across Britain is not happening fast enough.
‘Women often tell me they practically expect to be sent to the back of the queue in the NHS, and they think this explains why two-thirds of osteoporosis patients are overlooked for treatment,’ says Ruth Wakeman, a director at the Royal Osteoporosis Society.
‘Prevention of fractures is an expensive blind spot in the NHS which we need Wes Streeting to fix – standing up for post-menopausal women who feel chronically overlooked.’
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We remain committed to rolling out fracture liaison services across every part of the country by 2030, and on top of this, people will also be able to bypass their GPs thanks to our transformation of the NHS App.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .