Labor will ensure those at risk of brittle bone disease can access vital scans that detect the condition early, in a victory for The Mail on Sunday’s War on Osteoporosis campaign.
Research shows that allowing patients to access specialist osteoporosis care saves lives, prevents life-changing injuries and reduces NHS spending.
Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) identify people over the age of 50 who come to A&E with broken bones and screen them for fragility fractures.
Screening is currently offered in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Wales is expanding it this year, but it is only available in around half of England’s NHS Trusts.
Following a campaign by the Ministry of Health to extend FLS to all hospitals, the Conservatives, Labor and Liberal Democrats have committed to fully funding the screening project.
Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting (pictured) has told this newspaper he remains committed to rolling out FLS to all UK hospitals.
Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) identify people over the age of 50 who arrive at A&E with broken bones and screen them for fragility fractures (File image)
While this appeared in the Conservative and Liberal Democrat manifestos, it did not appear in Labour’s.
But Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting has now told this newspaper that he remains committed to rolling out FLS to all UK hospitals.
“We will expand the use of FLS to all regions of England and achieve full coverage by 2030,” says Streeting.
“We will ensure patients are seen quicker for scans, providing an extra 15,000 a year to overcome the Conservative backlog.”
But the Conservatives criticized Labor for omitting the promise from the party’s manifesto.
“We have fully funded plans for our NHS, including an explicit commitment in our manifesto to expand the use of FLS in England to 100 per cent coverage by 2030,” says Health Secretary Victoria Atkins.
‘Labour has said a lot about this in recent weeks, including promises to Mail on Sunday readers, but lo and behold, its manifesto makes no mention of the FLS.
“We have fully funded plans for our NHS, including an explicit commitment in our manifesto to expand the use of FLS in England to 100 per cent coverage by 2030,” says Health Secretary Victoria Atkins (pictured) .
“Voters should take this as further warning that Labor has no plan and cannot be trusted to deliver on its promises.”
Around 3.5 million people in the UK suffer from osteoporosis, which causes 500,000 fractures a year. This costs the NHS £4.5 billion in expenses and lost productivity.
