A prominent health charity has accused the United Kingdom Government of presenting misleading statistics regarding the expansion of services for osteoporosis patients. The Royal Osteoporosis Society (ROS), an organization with Queen Camilla as its president, has lodged a complaint with the UK Statistics Authority, asserting that the government is using inaccurate figures to suggest a successful nationwide implementation of specialized clinics for the bone disease.
According to the ROS, only half of the NHS trusts in England currently offer Fracture Liaison Services (FLS), falling short of a pre-election commitment for these services to be universally available by 2030. The charity, alongside The Mail on Sunday, has been advocating for the government to fulfill its promises concerning FLS, which they argue could prevent thousands of lives and debilitating fractures annually.
During the 2024 General Election campaign, then-shadow health secretary Wes Streeting reportedly stated that establishing FLS nationwide would be among his initial actions if elected. However, a dispute has emerged, potentially causing embarrassment for Prime Minister Andy Burnham's administration. The controversy centers on remarks made by health ministers Gillian Merron and Karin Smyth.
Baroness Merron stated in the House of Lords that 23 out of 25 Integrated Care Boards in England now have FLS. Similarly, Mrs. Smyth informed Members of Parliament that "92 percent of the country is now covered." The ROS contends that these figures are highly misleading, as they do not reflect a substantial increase in patient services but rather stem from the redrawing of NHS administrative boundaries.
Ruth Wakeman, a director at the ROS, criticized the approach, stating, "Redrawing the lines on an NHS map does not create new services or give patients meaningful new access to care. Patients have been given a deeply misleading picture of progress."
Lord Black, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Osteoporosis, has also communicated his concerns about the government's figures to MPs and peers.
Osteoporosis affects approximately 3.5 million people in the UK, predominantly women. The condition, if left undiagnosed, significantly increases the risk of life-altering fractures. The proposed FLS, integrated within NHS trusts, are designed to assess individuals after their first fracture to prevent subsequent breaks. The ROS estimates that these services could prevent 74,000 fractures over a five-year period.
Dr. Madhavi Vindlacheruvu, a consultant at Cambridge University Hospitals and chairman of the East of England Fracture Liaison Service Network, commented, "Redrawing NHS boundaries does not create a single new Fracture Liaison Service."
The Department of Health has responded by affirming the government's commitment to rolling out FLS by 2030 and noted an investment in 20 new state-of-the-art DEXA scanners for bone density testing.