Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help reduce fragility fractures; and what assessment he has made of the potential impact of Fragility Liaison Services on reducing (a) re-fracture rates and (b) hip fractures.

Fracture Liaison Services are commissioned by integrated care boards (ICBs), who are best placed to make decisions according to local need. ICBs are responsible for developing a forward plan that sets out how the ICB intends to arrange health services within its area, including secondary fracture prevention services such as Fracture Liaison Services.

The Government recognise the value of quality assured secondary fracture prevention services, including Fracture Liaison Services. NHS England is working with commissioners to support the mobilisation and implementation of Fracture Liaison Services in each area and to establish a greater number of clinics. This includes their work through the Getting it Right First Time Programme, with a specific workstream on musculoskeletal health, and they are exploring how best to support integrated care systems in the diagnosis and treatment of osteoporosis. This includes a focus on improving provision of and equity of access to high quality, secondary fracture prevention services, such as Fracture Liaison Services, which help to identify those most at risk and offer preventative support.

To help support trends in the identification rate for patients with osteoporotic fracture and to improve early identification of osteoporosis, the Quality Improvement Partnership commissions and manages the Falls and Fragility Fracture Audit on behalf of NHS England. This includes the Hip Fracture Database, as well as an audit focusing on Fracture Liaison Services. This audit has developed the Fracture Liaison Service Database to benchmark services and drive quality improvement.