A new way of treating people with broken bones has now been rolled out in health boards across Wales, Health and Social Care Cabinet Secretary Jeremy Miles has announced.
The All-Wales Fracture Liaison Service ensures that patients aged 50 and over with a broken bone after a fall have their bone health and falls risk checked and managed to lower their risk of any further fractures in the future.
This safeguards people from recurring injuries in the long term and is a clinical and cost-effective early intervention method to keep people out of hospitals.
More than £1m in funding from the Six Goals Programme for Urgent and Emergency Care and from the Welsh Value in Health Centre has helped develop FLS services in areas where there was no provision, and to support expansion and improvement of existing services.
To date, the funding has seen an additional 13 Clinical Nurse Specialists and 11 administration staff recruited to FLS across Wales.
Health and Social Care Cabinet Secretary, Jeremy Miles, said:
"Statistics suggest that if somebody has a fragility fracture there's a one-in-three chance they will sustain a further fracture within 12 months. But risk can be reduced by up to 40 per cent if appropriate services are in place.
"I am delighted to say we have achieved our aim of rolling out FLS across Wales. This will prevent costly hospital admissions, delivering significant savings for the NHS and support people to continue their lives more confidently at home after a fall.
"It is equally important to recognise the journey does not end here however, and we must continue to develop and improve FLS to reduce the impact falls and fractures have on our NHS.
"In the coming months, we will issue the Quality Statement for Osteoporosis and Bone Health and set out our specific expectations and timescales for FLS and wider bone health services to meet national clinical standards across Wales.
"I am grateful to Dr Inder Singh, the National Clinical Lead for Falls and Frailty, for his hard work and dedication to this important all-Wales rollout."
Dr Singh leads the All-Wales FLS Quality Assurance and Development Group, which has worked closely with health boards and wider organisations to improve FLS provision since its launch as part of Wales’ inaugural Fracture Liaison Service Conference in October 2022.
Dr Singh said:
"Today marks an important milestone in the journey to improve fracture liaison service provision in Wales.
"I am deeply grateful to the members of the FLS Quality Assurance and Development Group, our third sector partners, clinical leadership across the health boards and the dedicated staff working in fracture liaison services who have given their time and support to get us to this point.
"Our teams are committed to developing fracture liaison services that truly benefit the people of Wales. In the next phase of this work, we must focus on ensuring these services meet all expected standards for the intended benefits to be fully realised."
Chief Executive of the Royal Osteoporosis Society, Craig Jones said:
"People in Wales can be proud that their Government was the first to mandate universal Fracture Liaison Services to end the revolving door of fracture patients in hospitals.
"An important first step has now been taken, with all acute health boards across Wales now providing these life-changing bone services. We must now build on this foundation by setting out a phased plan for every one of the services to mature to cover the whole local population.
"Otherwise we’ll continue to miss most opportunities to prevent devastating fractures. We’re pleased the Welsh Government has signalled that further plans will be published before the end of the year.
"We re-commit to work closely with the strong team there to achieve 100% coverage and protection for the public.