Fracture Liaison Services

Lord Kamall Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

While many areas have made good progress, there is still variation in service provision and issues with patient access. That is why we are improving identification, assessment and treatment of people at risk of fragility fractures. On the point about women, in the last four years two new drugs have been recommended by NICE for the treatment of osteoporosis; they will help to strengthen the bones and prevent bone loss. This, NICE publishing, updated guidance and the other measures we are taking will improve fracture liaison services, including prevention.

[Lord Kamall (Con)]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend Lord Black and the noble Baroness, Lady Hayter, for their persistence on this issue. It is welcome that the Government have made a commitment to roll out universal fracture liaison services by 2030, but who will be responsible for setting implementation milestones, interim target dates and reporting on the 2030 target?

[Baroness Merron (Lab)]

In line with all the other things we do, we have a range of measures. I have just spoken about the modern service framework, which is a new way of holding to account and it allows us to set targets for ICBs. It is important to say that NHS England and the department work to ensure that we make progress, but at the end of it all, in order to meet the needs of local communities, local services are best provided by those who are the local service providers. That does not change.