Wes Streeting: “We made the promise, we’ll keep the promise” on universal Fracture Liaison Services by 2030

Wes Streeting, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has reiterated his commitment to delivering universal Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) across England by 2030, praising the Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS) for their campaign. Speaking at a Labour Party Conference fringe event in Liverpool, Streeting responded to a question from ROS volunteer Annette Browne by acknowledging the campaign’s success in building the evidence base for secondary prevention.

“You’ve built a really good evidenced example of what really good secondary prevention looks like. And Fracture Liaison Services aren't just good for patients in terms of preventing… injury and everything that that entails but you're also doing a service to the taxpayer as well through saving money… You persuaded us as opposition. We've made the promise, and now we will keep the promise. “

Adding to the support, Andrew Gwynne, Minister for Public Health and Prevention, also backed the Better Bones campaign during the conference. Questioned by Better Bones campaigners during a fringe event, the Minister said "With the Better Bones campaign, I am a big supporter. The Secretary of State is a big supporter. We are doing what we can to really push for these issues and better services... you'll find none better than Wes Streeting and myself pushing this agenda, so hopefully we will have some good news soon."

The ROS travelled with a team of five volunteers to the conference to raise awareness of the Better Bones campaign, which seeks universal access to FLS. During the conference, the team has been engaging with key decision-makers at fringe meetings and receptions, ensuring the issue remains at the top of the healthcare agenda. Next week, six ROS volunteers will travel to Conservative Party conference to make the case to the Opposition.

The Better Bones campaign, run by the Sunday Express, continues to campaign for an end to the postcode lottery for FLS in which only 51% of NHS trusts currently offer this vital service. FLSs diagnose people with osteoporosis early, straight after their first broken bone, and transform outcomes by helping them stick to their medication regime.

Critical to our success in influencing politicians has been the launch of the “War on Osteoporosis” campaign, run by the Mail on Sunday, which is also calling for universal FLS.  Together, the campaigns have galvanised the support of 271 Parliamentarians.

The campaigns, which have been running since last June, recently announced the formation of a new Shadow National Steering Group that brings together a number of civil society organisations to provide support to the government’s national roll-out of universal FLS by 2030