Poor quality care for people suffering fractures

The NHS is wasting millions of pounds on poor quality care for people suffering fractures, said a study.

Staff are failing to identify and treat osteoporosis in patients who have had a previous fracture and a postcode lottery exists in accessing care, it said.

It is known that the number of people suffering hip fractures is expected to double by 2050 as the population ages.

At present, more than 310,000 patients attend UK hospitals with "fragility fractures" each year, costing around £2 billion in social and health care.

Most of these people are elderly and around a quarter of the fractures - 75,000 - are hip fractures, typically caused by a fall.

The British Orthopaedic Association and the British Geriatrics Society published a study on fractures with the support of the Royal College of Nursing and the National Osteoporosis Society.

It comes as new research suggests that the once-a-year drug, Aclasta, cuts the number of deaths among patients with fractures caused by osteoporosis.

The drug is expected to receive its license for use in the UK before the end of the year.

The organisations published a guide on best practice and called for fracture patients over the age of 50 to be routinely tested for osteoporosis.

The condition is more common among women, with half of over-50s likely to suffer a related fracture.