1. What action is the Minister taking to improve fracture liaison services in Wales? OQ58875

Sorry, I'm just rescuing my water now. Thank you very much. I have made clear my expectation that all patients in Wales should receive equitable access to fracture liaison services, and we are working with health boards to achieve this.

Thank you, Minister. Osteoporosis, I am sure you understand and know better than I do, affects more than 180,000 people in Wales, and fracture liaison services can help to transform the quality of life for many older people in Wales and deliver cost savings to the NHS. At present, only two thirds of people in Wales aged over 50 have access to the fracture liaison services, compared to 100 per cent coverage in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Extending and improving the quality of service could free up the 73,000 acute hospital bed days and 16,500 rehabilitation bed days estimated to be taken up by hip fracture patients over the next five years, delivering huge savings to the NHS. For example, the Royal Osteoporosis Society says providing a full FLS in the Aneurin Bevan health board area would cost just over £343,000 a year. Over five years, 337 hip fractures and 114 spinal fractures would be prevented, saving the NHS an estimated £6.6 million. So, do you agree, Minister, that we have a real opportunity here to improve the lives of people across Wales? Will you commit to investing in the fracture liaison services to provide 100 per cent cover across Wales? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Natasha, and thank you for the opportunity to draw attention to the fact that, actually, in cold weather, in icy weather, in snowy weather, you are more likely to fall. I would ask, in particular, those who are more frail to pay particular attention at this time of year, because the last thing we need is more pressure on our NHS at this point in time. So, thank you for that.

I think it's really important that we do everything we can in the preventative space when it comes to ensuring that we improve the fracture situation in Wales. We know that one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 are expected to break a bone during their lifetime, so that's a lot of people. And so, we do need to put some measures in place. I was really delighted to have attended the conference on World Osteoporosis Day in October where we made it very clear that we do expect to see significant improvement in this space. What we've got is a situation where Wales currently has about 72 per cent coverage, and England has about 57 per cent coverage, but I am determined to get to 100 per cent, and that's what that conference was about. It was really about asking people to look at best practice and to make sure that health boards take their responsibility seriously in this area.