Summary
The following piece introduces work at the National Osteoporosis Society’s Fracture Liaison Services (FLS) on reducing fragility fractures by identifying patients at risk of osteoporosis. Readers are invited to consider:
“One month after suffering a hip fracture, one-in-three people will have died and only half will have returned home. Half of all hip fractures happen to people who have previously fractured. By identifying patients in a consistent, systematic way through an FLS, it is estimated that up to 25% of hip fractures – about 20,000 a year – could be prevented”.
Reference
A national approach to reducing fragility fractures – Henry Mace. [Online]: NHS England, July 1st 2016.
This relates to:
Reference
Effective Secondary Prevention of Fragility Fractures: Clinical Standards for Fracture Liaison Services. [Online]: National Osteoporosis Society, 2016.
The toolkit for reducing fragility fractures nationally:
Reference
Fracture Liaison Service Implementation Toolkit. [Online]: National Osteoporosis Society, 2016.
There is a training course which helps Fracture Prevention Practitioners (FPPs) deliver services suitable for people with (or at risk of) osteoporosis and fragility fractures:
Reference
Fracture Prevention Practitioner Training. [Online]: National Osteoporosis Society, 2016.
Peer review:
Reference
Peer Review of Osteoporosis and Metabolic Bone Services. [Online]: National Osteoporosis Society, 2016.