台灣uu直播

Statement on the Health Secretary鈥檚 remarks about ROS

Head office

02 Feb 2025

The is reporting some leaked remarks by Health Secretary Wes Streeting concerning our charity.聽 This is our response.

Sometimes charities have to campaign hard for the people they represent.聽That鈥檚 part of our jobs.

Before the election, Health Secretary Wes Streeting made a promise for universal Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) by 2030.聽It was specific and measurable.聽And that was important to us. Mr Streeting went one better than his counterparts in saying the rollout plan would be one of his first acts in post.

Rolling out these early diagnosis clinics to every area will prevent 74,000 fractures over five years 鈥 including 31,000 life-threatening hip fractures.聽So the stakes are high.

Since taking office, the Government鈥檚 language changed to 鈥渨idening access鈥 to FLS.聽This made us worry that universality by 2030 wasn鈥檛 the goal, and then some people will miss out on a life-saving service.

Without confirmation as government policy, the pre-election promise was just a newspaper quote.

When the Government announced funding for 13 DXA scanners, we鈥檙e quoted as thanking Ministers, while pointing out that FLS isn鈥檛 just a DXA scan.

Today, the Government confirmed that 鈥渦niversal by 2030鈥 is their policy, for the first time since the election.聽This is fantastic news.聽I want to thank the Health Secretary for this re-commitment.聽Thousands of people with osteoporosis will feel the same.

The only thing that motivates us is the 2,500 people who are dying needless deaths from hip fractures every year.聽That鈥檚 why we鈥檝e been campaigning for work to begin as soon as possible.

The word 鈥渓obbying鈥 conjures up images of tobacco, gambling, special favours and brown envelopes.聽We provide a voice to a chronically under-recognised community, so 鈥渁dvocacy鈥 describes our work better.

Charities sometimes have to challenge governments, but it doesn鈥檛 mean we don鈥檛 want to work with them constructively.

Wes Streeting described us as 鈥渟takeholders rather than partners鈥.聽When the dust settles, I hope he鈥檒l be open to changing his mind.

We鈥檝e always been ready to help get these crucial services set up 鈥 rather than just calling on others to act.

After the election, we proposed a draft rollout plan for universal FLS, which we offered to broker in a joint venture with the NHS.聽We convened a Shadow Implementation Group to start work, including charities, Royal Colleges and expert societies.聽And we readied six Integrated Care Boards for pilots.

If work can start before long, we鈥檒l play our part in turning this into a strong example of prevention in action under the new government.

Craig Jones, CEO, 台灣uu直播

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