Fresh betrayal of osteoporosis sufferers like me was a punch in the guts, writes RUTH SUNDERLAND. We must make changes before even more people die

It felt, frankly, like a punch in the guts. Last week, The Mail on Sunday obtained a leaked video in which Health Secretary Wes Streeting mocked charities for the apparent crime of campaigning to improve the lives of patients.

In a sarcastic tirade at an event, Mr Streeting singled out the Royal Osteoporosis Society as the ‘worst offender’ when it came to ‘lobbying’ the Government to make changes to its policy.

I took this personally, because I have a deeply personal connection to the organisation. The charity scooped me up at one of the lowest points in my life.

In autumn 2023, I broke my shoulder after I tripped while out for a run. As I sat in the hospital waiting to see a consultant, I thought I’d simply suffered a sports injury. Perhaps I’d been unlucky to fall on to my shoulder at exactly the wrong angle.

However, the doctor said that scans had revealed I had osteoporosis – the bone-thinning disease which affects over three million people in the UK, the majority of whom are women.

Those living with the disease are at risk of severe fractures that can leave them permanently disabled and can even be fatal – more than 2,500 people die every year as a result of hip breaks triggered by osteoporosis.

I’m not normally the kind of person who phones a helpline, but I was in such despair after my diagnosis and did not know where to turn. So I rang the Royal Osteoporosis Society and spoke to one of its specialist nurses.

She rescued me from a very dark place. Her empathy, understanding and knowledge made me realise my life did not have to be wrecked by this awful disease.

Despite what Mr Streeting would say, I believe that the only ‘offence’ this charity has committed is helping improve the lives of patients.

However, I also felt personally attacked by the Health Secretary’s comments because, for the past year, I have spearheaded a campaign in the pages of this newspaper on behalf of the millions of osteoporosis patients in the UK.

We have been calling on the Government to ensure that every part of the country has access to fracture liaison services (FLS) – the gold standard in early diagnosis of the debilitating bone disease. 

These units aim to investigate the cause of any bone breaks earlier in patients’ lives by carrying out a specialist bone-density test called a DEXA scan.

If signs of osteoporosis are spotted, patients can be given bone-preserving drugs sooner. If it wasn’t for the fact that I was referred to the FLS at my local hospital, I may not have got my diagnosis and the treatment I have started since. 

However, only half of hospital trusts offer the service. As a result, there are thought to be more than 90,000 undiagnosed osteoporosis patients in the UK, all of whom are in danger of life-threatening bone breaks. 

However, eventually, we had cause to be optimistic that the Government had listened to our calls and was taking action to fix this massive, and easily avoidable, health crisis. During the General Election campaign, Mr Streeting made a personal promise to this newspaper that one of his first acts in Government would be to task NHS England with a ‘rollout plan’ for nationwide FLS.

It was incredibly positive news. Then, in October, I was invited to meet the Queen, who is president of the Royal Osteoporosis Society and whose mother died in agony of the disease.

I was presented with a certificate of appreciation by her staff for my campaigning on the issue.

I felt a surge of pride when she expressed ‘huge thanks’ for the work this paper had done. ‘It really has put osteoporosis on the map,’ she added. ‘Can I just plead with you to keep going?’

But since then, this optimism has become clouded with doubt. When Labour entered Government, no visible sign of a nationwide rollout plan for FLS materialised. There was no mention of the move in the autumn budget – despite the Chancellor pledging an extra £22.6 billion to the NHS.

In the weeks that followed, 100 doctors, along with 50 MPs and Lords, wrote to Mr Streeting urging him to stick to his promise.

And when, this month, the plan was absent from newly published NHS Planning Guidance – a key document that sets out the Health Service’s priorities in the coming years – the Royal Osteoporosis Society raised the alarm. Craig Jones, the charity’s chief executive, put out a statement appealing to Mr Streeting to ‘restore trust and confidence in the specific measurable pledge that he campaigned on’.

Last week, the Department of Health and Social Care told this newspaper that it remained committed to rolling out FLS across every part of the country by 2030.

I appreciate that Mr Streeting has a tremendously hard job with hundreds of competing priorities.

But since he first promised to roll out FLS last September, more than 800 people will have died from osteoporosis-related hip breaks.

And every month that Mr Streeting delays rolling out these crucial clinics will lead to further deaths.

I hope he can understand why campaigners like myself feel so strongly about this issue.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: ‘We are rolling out fracture liaison services across every part of the country by 2030.

‘In the meantime, we are also investing in new high-tech DEXA scanners, which are expected to provide an extra 29,000 scans this year to ensure people with bone conditions like osteoporosis get diagnosed earlier.’