King’s Speech

Lord Black of Brentwood Excerpts

Wednesday 20th May 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Black of Brentwood (Con)]

My Lords, I welcome the emphasis in the gracious Speech on renewing public services, modernising the NHS and supporting long-term economic security. They are the right ambitions, but they will matter to patients only if they translate into practical reforms that prevent ill health, reduce pressure on hospitals and help people stay independent.

The Minister will not be surprised that I will concentrate today on one such issue, fracture liaison services, as did the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, with whose excellent speech I completely agree. These bone clinics identify people with osteoporosis after a first fracture, ensure they are assessed and treated, and help prevent the subsequent devastating fractures that would otherwise follow. That matters because osteoporosis is one of the most urgent threats to our ageing population, causing half of women and one fifth of men over 50 to suffer fractures.

The end result of untreated osteoporosis is a broken hip, which kills a quarter of sufferers within a year, and is a huge burden on the NHS, with around 7% of NHS beds occupied by people with fragility fractures. There is also a stark inequality dimension: people from deprived areas have a 25% higher risk of fractures. Safe, effective medication—costing around £1 per week—exists to stop this and save lives. But today, FLS are missing in half of NHS trusts, and that position has not shifted since the general election.

In 2024, the new Government pledged to roll out FLS to every area of England by 2030, and I applauded them for that. The then Secretary of State, Wes Streeting, said the rollout plan would be one of his “first acts in government”—but we are still waiting. As a result, over those two years, 4,000 people have died needlessly following hip fractures that a prompt rollout of FLS would have prevented.

Ministers, including the noble Baroness, Lady Merron, who is hugely supportive of this cause—and I am very grateful for that—have reiterated their FLS pledge no fewer than 63 times in Parliament and the media, as the noble Baroness, Lady Donaghy, said. Yet still, there has been no progress. The Government’s recent investment in replacing 14 bone density scanners is welcome—bravo—but a scan is just a scan. It does not start patients on medication or help patients adhere to their treatment through regular review, the vital elements of the FLS model that reduce refracture rates by 40%.

This is not a partisan issue; every political party backs the rollout. But, as we have heard, there are no implementation plans, dedicated resources or milestones. Many organisations that advocate for FLS fear the commitment exists on paper but will not be delivered in practice. If that is accurate, the costs are grave. Over 2,000 people die each year following hip fractures that FLS prevent. Since the election, the NHS has already spent an estimated £150 million treating fractures that FLS could have prevented—double the cost of FLS rollout. On any credible path to implementation, we would have expected 24 of the 60 NHS trusts missing FLS to be covered by now. Today, that number stands at zero. Worse, the lack of a national plan is impeding local areas from pushing on with their own FLS while awaiting central direction.

We are now at a moment of truth. The Society of Radiographers warns rollout must begin by summer 2026 if the Government are to have any chance of meeting the goal. It is now an urgent implementation challenge, not a distant timeline. A commitment without a delivery plan is not good enough. If Ministers truly intend a nationwide rollout for these services by 2030, surely there can be no objection to publishing a timetable for delivery. Could the Minister be frank with the House? Does the Department of Health, in view of all the evidence it has before it, believe the 2030 deadline remains deliverable and feasible without dedicated funding?

Ministers have rightly championed a shift from sickness to prevention; osteoporosis is a clear test of whether that ambition translates into practice. If we cannot act here, it is difficult to see where we will. The new Secretary of State, the noble Baroness’s colleague, has the rarest of opportunities: an easy win in a very difficult brief that will save lives and money and tackle stark health inequalities. What is not to like? The policy is agreed, the model is proven and the sector is ready and raring to go. What we need now is not another promise but action, a timetable, resources and the start of delivery. I hope we might get that commitment this evening.