One of my first acts in government will be to task NHS England with developing a rollout plan, so every part of the country has access to Fracture Liaison Services.

Wes Streeting, June 2024

Two years on. Still no plan.

2,000 people die each year after fractures that osteoporosis clinics could prevent.

In 2024, Wes Streeting promised every patient in England access to these vital clinics.

Since the election, Ministers promised action on more than 60 occasions.

But patients are still waiting.

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We need your help to safeguard the life-changing pledge the Government made to people with osteoporosis. Write to your MP today using our template letter.

After a fragility fracture, people should be picked up, assessed, and treated to stop the next one.

That’s what Fracture Liaison Services do.

Where they exist, they prevent fractures, reduce pressure on the NHS, and save lives.

But they’re still not available everywhere.

The Sunday Express have been running a very successful campaign and I hope the [Conservative] Government gets there before we do. I’m fairly certain the Government will shift on this before the General Election, but we will do our best to hold their feet to the fire. - Wes Streeting, 15 October 2023

Not only are people suffering pain and discomfort in their retirement, many in their 50s and 60s are forced out of work, holding back our economy and costing taxpayers more in the long run. - Wes Streeting in response to the Conservatives 2024 Spring Budget which he described as a "betrayal of patients" for its omission of funding for FLS.

You persuaded us as opposition. We've made the promise, and now we will keep the promise. - Wes Streeting, 23 September 2024

Osteoporosis – an overview

Half of women aged 50+ will fracture because of osteoporosis, as well as a fifth of men over 50.
Safe, effective bone medications exist, including two new bone-builder drugs.
But two-thirds of the more than 3.5m people with osteoporosis are being overlooked for treatment, largely due to the postcode lottery for Fracture Liaison Services.
People from deprived areas have a 25% higher risk of fractures, spend longer in hospital recovering, and die in greater numbers after hip fractures.
An independent report by Lane, Clark and Peacock found fractures cost employers 1.5m lost work days every year and £130m in sick pay.

The benefits of Fracture Liaison Services (FLS)

FLS pro-actively identifies people with osteoporosis after the first fracture, putting patients onto bone medication and systematically monitoring them over 12 months.
FLS is the NICE-backed, HQIP-audited world standard for fracture prevention, used in 60 countries; National rollouts have recently completed in Japan, New Zealand and Wales
FLS reduces re-fracture rates by up to 40%.
FLSs break even within 18-24 months, (with a return on investment of £1.88 for every £1 by five years).

Universal FLS will prevent 74,000 fractures over 5 years, including 31,000 hip fractures

The Better Bones campaign is supported by a broad coalition

Seven Royal Medical Colleges have called for universal FLS: Physicians, Surgeons, GPs, Nursing, Anesthetists, Emergency Medicine, Occupational Therapy.
Business leaders and unions have called for FLS to keep people in work: CBI, TUC, Federation of Small Businesses, Institute of Directors, British Chamber of Commerce, Unite, GMB, CIPD, British Retail Consortium.
More than 60 charities and organisations call for FLS, including Age UK, Alzheimer’s Society, Fawcett Society, British Menopause Society, Menopause Mandate, Mumsnet and Gransnet.

Why we need a rollout plan for universal FLS now

New FLSs cannot be delivered through a last-minute surge alone. These vital services are not created overnight, but require time to recruit, staff and identify patients.
To meet the government’s commitment to universal FLS provision in England by 2030, 60 NHS Trusts that currently do not provide FLS will need to establish new services.
This requires consistent year-on-year progress. By 2026 - nearly two years after the pledge was made - around 24 of these 60 NHS Trusts should have launched new FLSs to stay on track. None have.
The Society of Radiographers have warned that:

...unless the roll-out starts by this summer, ministers will find it impossible to meet their 2030 deadline.

Katie Thompson, President of the Society of Radiographers (February, 2026)

In some areas, plans for new services have been paused in anticipation of a national rollout plan that has yet to materialise.
Without urgent national action in 2026 - including clear milestones, year-on-year targets and funding - the 2030 commitment to universal FLS provision in England will become impossible to deliver.