Prestigious awards recognise FLS development in Stornoway

Fracture Liaison Service Practitioner and Radiographer, Shuna Mighton, was a finalist at this year’s Scottish Health Awards. The prestigious awards, which took place last week, recognise those working across NHS Scotland to deliver high quality health and social care services.

Shuna, who works in the Western Isles, was nominated for the Allied Health Professional Award for her work to develop Fracture Liaison Services in Stornoway.

The ROS supports the development of new and existing secondary fracture prevention or fracture liaison services (FLS), the gold standard for fracture care, to deliver best practice care for those with high fracture risk. ROS Clinical Engagement Lead, Jill Griffin, first worked with Shuna through the ROS peer review of the Stornoway DXA service in 2016 and mentored her through a DXA reporting qualification.

Jill said:

“Shuna had a very strong ethic for service improvement when I first met her in 2016. Since then, Shuna has worked hard to develop both herself, and her service, and in 2019 was able to launch a ground breaking radiographer-led FLS service.

“I was lucky enough to support Shuna as a mentor through her DXA reporting qualification and I was able to see Shuna’s clinical skill grow first-hand as she developed into the exemplary clinician she is.

“Secondary fracture prevention care for the people of the Western Isles has been revoluntionised thanks to Shuna.

Following the news she’d be announced as a finalist, Shuna said:

"I'm honoured to have been chosen as a finalist in the Scottish Health Awards for establishing the NHS Western Isles Fracture Liaison Service. When I took up the post in 2019, Scotland became only the second country in the world to achieve the milestone of universal FLS coverage. 

“In setting up this service I was fortunate to have the professional support of Mayrine Fraser and Jill Griffin of the Royal Osteoporosis Society. From practical support with service design to personal mentoring as I completed postgraduate study in Osteoporosis and Bone Densitometry reporting, they were instrumental in achieving the quality service we have today.

“From the service toolkit and standards documents to patient leaflets and online support, alongside peer review and educational opportunities the value of the robust and evidence-based resources of the Royal Osteoporosis Society cannot be underestimated and I am grateful to have them available to me."

To find out more about the support the ROS offers to implementing an FLS, visit: FLS Implementation Toolkit | ROS (theros.org.uk)