Mumsnet chief and top doctors join call to improve care of bone disease affecting millions of women

Jeremy Hunt will face the wrath of Mumsnet unless he ends the postcode lottery on a devastating bone disease affecting millions of women.

Several medical Royal colleges and top clinical organisations are also calling on the Chancellor to provide funding for the early detection of osteoporosis across the whole of the UK in next month’s Budget.

Campaigners, including peers and MPs from all major parties, want Mr Hunt to finance Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) in every NHS Trust in England and Wales.

These offer scans to everyone over 50 who arrive at A&E with a fracture, and therefore help identify and treat osteoporosis early.

Justine Roberts, the founder of Mumsnet, said: ‘Osteoporosis is a condition that disproportionately affects women and we hear regularly from our users who have struggled to access timely treatment and diagnosis, with significant consequences for their quality of life. Closing the osteoporosis treatment gap and investing in prevention will improve the lives of thousands each year.’

Justine Roberts, the founder of Mumsnet, said: ‘Osteoporosis is a condition that disproportionately affects women and we hear regularly from our users who have struggled to access timely treatment and diagnosis, with significant consequences for their quality of life’

Campaigners, including peers and MPs from all major parties, want Jeremy Hunt to finance Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) in every NHS Trust in England and Wales

Mumsnet is one of the most influential networks in the UK, with more than eight million women visiting its website every month. Senior politicians have found to their cost it is foolhardy to court the anger of Mumsnetters. Ex-PM Gordon Brown was lambasted as insincere when he refused to say what his favourite biscuit was in a webchat in 2009.

The UK’s leading women’s health charity also backed the drive. Janet Lindsay, of Wellbeing Of Women, said osteoporosis fractures – many of which are avoidable with early diagnosis – can be ‘devastating’, adding that menopause is a risk factor’.

Funding FLS throughout England and Wales would cost a modest £30 million, which campaigners say would more than pay for itself.

The senior ranks of the medical profession also want Mr Hunt to act. Tim Mitchell, of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: ‘Broken bones among adults aged over 50 place major demands on emergency departments and surgical time. Prioritising early diagnosis will prove crucial to avoiding life-changing fractures.’

Several medical Royal colleges and top clinical organisations are also calling on the Chancellor to provide funding for the early detection of osteoporosis across the whole of the UK in next month’s Budget (File image)

Dr Fiona Donald, of the Royal College of Anaesthetists, said: ‘Fracture Liaison Services can not only prevent suffering for people but also reduce the demand on the NHS.’

Osteoporosis is the fourth most harmful health condition in terms of disability and premature death in the UK, surpassed only by coronary heart disease, dementia and lung cancer. Fractures put a huge strain on the NHS and harm the economy as working-age sufferers take time off.

Dr John Dean, of the Royal College of Physicians, said: ‘We know Fracture Liaison Services play a vital role in preventing potentially life-changing fractures. Unfortunately, tens of thousands of patients go unchecked to see if they are getting the care they need, all because of where they live. This is unacceptable.’

Other bodies demanding action include the Royal College of Nursing and the Society of Radiographers.

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