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Ending the NHS 'postcode lottery' of osteoporosis clinics could prevent nearly 50,000 fractures and save £600m, charity warns

Universal access to Fracture Liaison Services could prevent 48,568 fractures and free up 338,579 acute hospital bed days over five years, saving the NHS £600m by 2031.
Universal access to Fracture Liaison Services could prevent 48,568 fractures and free up 338,579 acute hospital bed days over five years, saving the NHS £600m by 2031.

The Royal Osteoporosis Society warns that three million people in England live with the condition, yet thousands are denied access to Fracture Liaison Services — specialist early-diagnosis clinics — solely on the basis of where they live. Extending these clinics nationwide could prevent 48,568 fractures and free up 338,579 acute NHS bed days within five years, with health and social care providers saving over £600 million by 2031. The society's new analysis shows that every £1 invested in the clinics generates £2.61 in NHS and social care savings.

More than 15,062 of those preventable cases involve hip fractures — breaks that can tip someone into permanent residential care virtually overnight.

Ruth Wakeman of the Royal Osteoporosis Society noted that the government has already pledged to make fracture prevention services universal by 2030, describing it as 'one staring us in the face' for funding social care reform.

The government has responded to the society's analysis, though Labour has yet to commit to bringing forward the 2030 rollout target.

MoreThe IndependentEnd 'postcode lottery of care' for sufferers of common bone condition, charity saysThe IndependentOne change that could prevent 50,000 bone fractures over five years - The IndependentLBCEnd postcode lottery of early osteoporosis clinics to prevent thousands of fractures, experts warnYorkshire LiveGovernment responds as Royal Osteoporosis Society says fractures 'prevented' if change made
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