Labour's broken osteoporosis promise

[lcakethereforeIam]

I've this happen to previously active and independent women

https://archive.ph/H02kz

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/04/22/thousands-women-die-labour-osteoporosis-failure/

It's something that frightens me, but I had no idea this was supposed to be a thing.

Thanks, another thing to print out to give Labour canvassers for the local elections, and proving yet again they don't give a fuck about women. I decided I'm not going to argue on the doorstep, just going to hand out news articles for them to read.

I think the article is a bit misleading.

Absolutely, there needs to be better prevention of osteoporosis taking hold, and not in fact just seeing it as happening after a particular age.

So this concern about osteoporosis is good, but there is treatment that can not only hold it at bay, but sometimes improve (as happened to me).

But not just GPs but hospital consultants are stuck in this concept of certain types of illness problems onlly happen at certain times of someone's live.

But what is really, really scary is why do so many people die after a hip operation. That is the threat.

My mother was one of them.

And this was multiple factors. She was left for 3 days on pain killers after she broke her hip before they managed to give her the surgery she needed. And I think only slotted in late at night because a surgeon took pity on her.

Those 3 days on pain killers had a very negative impact on her mental health, memory.

She should, as others should, have gone to a rehabilitation centre, as it is really important to start to be mobile as soon as possible. No places could be found, so again the delay of being in hospital imobile was another negataive factor. Then a care home without rehabilitation staff was found. Someone was supposed to come and help with her treatment, but as with all these services someone doing an hour here, an hour there with travel in between, never works. And sadly she probably need two rehab staff as she had arthritis as well, so walking had already been an issue for her.

And then she got moved to another rehab centre, which was so depressing I think everyone there, not just the patients but the staff thought this is where people come to die.

So not to say it cant be done. A neighbour of my mother's had the same incident but the sequence of events after that just worked out better.

So absolutely, if your family has a history of osteoporosis, please seek treatment. It can be dealt with.

But sadly the NHS, maybe because it is nearly always an emergency, or nearly always older people, somehow cant treat a broken hip. I would never have believed this until it happened to my mother.

See this sad article from nearly 10 years ago https://theconversation.com/why-hip-fractures-in-the-elderly-are-often-a-death-sentence-95784

Cake, thank you for this. I'm at higher risk for osteoporosis and so it does worry me. I'm in Wales, so will do some checking around to see what the state of osteoporosis prevention is here. I suspect that very little of what Wes Streeting ever achieves in England will translate over to Wales (pardon the pun), but I'll keep an eye on the fallout from this new Women's Health Strategy just in case.

I'm sorry that happened to your mother. My mother also had hip fractures, very debilitating.

However, the article is about osteoporosis prevention, not treating hip fractures after they have occurred. We do need better and faster treatment of hip fractures, but we also need better awareness of the causes of fractures, and that includes osteoporosis and its diagnosis. The article was about the latter, so I fail to see how it is in any way misleading.

Turning the conversation to something the article is not about is disingenuous. The article is about osteoporosis diagnosis and prevention.

My GP really had to push for me to get a DEXA scan even though my sister has severe osteoporosis at 50,my mum has it and also 2 spinal fractures and my dad also has it and had broken bones. I have had a severe break in the past and keen to avoid more. Because no one has broken a hip my risk score was apparently low. 🙄

I did get a scan thanks to my GP and I have Osteopina so am taking supplements now and regular scans. The woman who scanned me said everyone should be having regular scans as so preventative of later problems.

I think perhaps the Labour Party should be screened for osteoporosis itself, given that its promises break so easily.

Both my mother and grandmother suffered from osteoporosis and I am slim/fine boned, yet when I went to the doctor to request a dexa scan, the online test he completed scored me at low risk. I paid for a private scan (£90) which showed that I had osteoporosis and am now on alendronic acid.

I appreciate that there is a cost of living crisis but it you can afford to go privately, think of it as an investment in your future. We have to be pro-active when it comes to our health.

Did you read the title of the article.

Thousands more women will die if Labour fails to meet its osteoporosis promises

That is totally misleading and worse still scare mongering about osteoporosis.

This is an appalling thing to do .

Osteoporosis can be treated and people can live with it.

And yes we all know that getting any sort of pro-active assessment is a problem. As it is with nearly everything in the NHS. I am still waiting after 10 years of complaining to have an assessment by a specialist for another condition.

Nobody, male or female DIES because of osteoporosis.

Peaple did because even though it is 2026 the NHS does not have effective treatment for hip surgery.

Do you not understand how staggeringly incredible this is.

So yes it would be great if more GPs etc., went throught the process of refering someone to a consultant in a hospital to diagnose osteoporosis.

It is grotesque to scare monger like this.

Even the comment on this thread talk about being scared. That's because of stupid misleading headlines likes this. It can be treated. The only problem is with many other physical problems is the NHS assessment process.

That is nowhere near the real threat that in 21st century given all sorts of medical advancements, the NHS can not treat a broken bone or joint because they cant provide aftercare.

That threat of death from a fracture is far, far more frightening than living with osteoporsis when there are drugs and sensible physical routines to maintain a good standard of physical activity.

Just to repeat no one dies because of osteoporsis.

The article itself made it clear it is breaking a hip that is the issue.

Just in case anyone thinks I am saying dont be pro-active about finding out if your symptoms could be because of osteoporosis, of course I am not.

But this lack of referrals are common in local surgeries. How many women have died because a local GP didn't make a referral to check because of cancer symptoms, for instance?

The underlying issue is how many GPs treat women seriously when telling them about their symptoms?

There was an article in a newspaper last week where a women wrote about how she went to her doctor with a set of symptoms and was fobbed off.

As it happened her husband had similar symptoms and his docter immediately referred him for further assessment at a specialist unit.

In an ideal world just as women have regular checks for breast cancer, it would be good to have regular checks for osteoporosis. Particularly as quite often there aren't symptoms.

Thank you for sharing OP. This is concerning. My DM has osteoporosis (which thankfully is diagnosed and she takes medication for). She has also had a hip replacement 2 years ago, and previously fractured her pelvis quite some some years ago (I believe this was when her osteoporosis was first diagnosed). She generally has rather reduced mobility thanks to decades of having a bad back (I suspect which stems from being pregnant with my DB who was 12-13lb and my DM is not big), and ever since the pelvis fracture has used crutches to walk. I have encouraged, nagged, encouraged etc her to invest in private physio to see if anything can be done to improve her core strength / back / mobility, to no avail. I’m glad to have been made aware of the real risks following a hip fracture so I can be alert.

Gawd love the NHS, but my god, I wish they would see the benefits of properly investing in preventative healthcare, and taking women’s health seriously. We see this time and time again, from for example the shockingly poor maternity care, to then the fact that what is completely standard in European countries - gynaecological physiotherapy to prevent incontinence issues post childbirth, pain relief / sedation for gynaecological procedures to name just two - all the way through to clearly the postcode lottery in relation to osteoporosis and any resultant injuries and issues. It’s tragic, terrifying and utterly enraging how these things are so easily prevented with 21st century healthcare, and yet just….aren’t.

Ok, so you have an issue with the alarmist title. Clearly. I didn't say that the article's title wasn't alarmist. In fact, I said nothing about the article's title, and neither did the OP.

The article is about early diagnosis clinics and preventative treatment for osteoporosis. Yes, it mentions hip operations briefly, but the point of the article is that NHS England should be rolling out early diagnosis clinics and treatments for everyone who needs it.

That is what we were discussing. And how worried we are about osteoporosis. (We are allowed to worry about this).

You wanted to discuss hip fractures, which is fine, but you seem to need us to agree that the article should have been about hip fractures. Who knows? Maybe it should have been, but the fact is that it wasn't.

I don't know what to tell you except maybe you should get over the fact that the article wasn't about what you want it to be about? I really wouldn't lose any sleep over it.

Honestly, just let it go.

Yet another attempt to create an argument where there wasn't one. You could've just joined in the discussion about osteoporosis.

Yes, the NHS love to talk about preventative care and medicine, and how it really is the way to go. But then they do nothing about it. There really is not the will to spend more now, so that they can spend less later because fewer people will need care. I'm not sure there will ever be the political will to think long term like that.

it would be good to have regular checks for osteoporosis.

Yes, it would. That's what the article was about.

It's not breaking a hip that particularly frightens me. It's having a degenerative disease that might impact my quality of life, possibly crippling me. It annoys me that screening can be done, should be being done according to the Government and then there's options available if there are issues.

This is what I am worried about as well, Cake. I was on Tamoxifen for a number of years, so now I have an increased risk. If osteoporosis screening clinics were available, I could maybe find out how bad I already am before it gets worse. Prescriptions are also free in Wales ( at the moment), do many women would be able to benefit from treatments.

It has got to be the money (and misogyny) that stops them starting these clinics up (if that makes sense).

There's a history of severe osteoporosis in my mother's side of the family. Unfortunately, there's also a gastro-reflux problem which means that biphosphonates are contraindicated.

Fortunately, my GP allowed me to stay on HRT and our young practice nurse seems to be pretty clued up.

I was referred to a physio after a shoulder op; she referred me to a healthcare programme at our local gym, where I'm concentrating on building muscle, bone and flexibility. I'm in Fife. I've been training for more than two years now. I don't know what my bone health was like, but I was suffering from muscle wastage.

My practice didn't refer me for a Dexa scan when I was allowed to stay on HRT. My family history and two broken elbows in my 30s was enough to convince her.

I paid for an Inbody scan last month and I'm told that my muscle and bone density are at the top end of normal for a woman of my age (mid-60s) but I'm hoping to improve on that still.

They can have a severely painful and miserable old age following extreme compression of the internal organs and nerves if their vertebrae collapse.

Death can also result, as happened to an elderly relative of mine.

From what previous posters have said , it seems a lot of us are paying for our own DEXA scans. Fine for those who have the money, but I wouldn't think sustainable across the entire population. A lot of women will get left behind.

I'm glad the exercise seems to be giving you good results. I could certainly do more, in addition to my walking. But I seem to injure myself so easily that I've given up a lot of exercising after reinjuring the same areas.

Due to my type of breast cancer, it is recommended that I take HRT. So it's a worry.

ps Sorry, that should say "it is not recommended that I take HRT"

@AngleofRepose My mother was eventually given Strontium. That was then stopped - I can't remember why (another contraindication, I think).

Finally, she was given an Aclasta infusion which seemed to work but all the damage had been done by then.

We'd not have been given either of those meds had I not contacted what was then NOS (rather than ROS) and been told what to say to advocate for Mum.

Might be worth contacting the ROS helpline?

Thanks, I hadn't thought of that. I think I have my medical records somewhere, so should take a look at exactly what they said, then yes maybe I could give ROS a call. It's only now that I've started to really think about it, having seen my mother's struggle with osteo. I went through menopause so young that I do wonder what that has done to my bone health.

I found the ROS helpline to be excellent. I became a member to support the charity and I find the newsletter to be very informative.