Give us £30m to end osteoporosis postcode lottery, Chancellor told

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.

Extending the services would cost just £30million 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 twothirds 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.’ 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 £2billion 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 £30million to extend FLS would more than pay for itself, leading to an overall benefit of £440million 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.’