Staff at Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust welcomed HRH The Duchess of Cornwall to Derriford Hospital this week.

The Duchess visited the hospital on Tuesday 9 June to officially launch the new Healthy Bones Service and the new mobile scanning unit.

During her visit, Her Royal Highness, who is the President of the National Osteoporosis Society, toured the department and the mobile scanning unit, meeting staff and patients along the way and finding out about the service.

The mobile scanning unit will carry out a special scan to measure bone density, called a dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. A simple, painless procedure, which is recommended for those people considered at high risk of breaking a bone because of osteoporosis.

Sam Cross, Lead Practitioner for the Healthy Bones Service, said: “The mobile unit will enable us to bring services much closer to the patients’ homes. It allows for much greater flexibility and will significantly improve access to bone health services for patients in very rural locations or who have transport difficulties.

“We are delighted that The Duchess of Cornwall officially launched our new service and the mobile scanning unit. We are very proud of our new service and to be one of the first hospital Trusts in the country to run a mobile scanning unit. “

In December 2007, Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust secured charitable funding from the National Osteoporosis Society to set up the scanning service both at Derriford Hospital and through a mobile scanning service. This means that the number of DEXA scans performed will increase* and the distances travelled by patients to have a scan will be reduced significantly.

Claire Severgnini, Chief Executive Officer from The National Osteoporosis Society said:
“The average rates of hip fracture for people aged over 65 across Devon and Cornwall is more than twice the national average, so these much-needed new scanning services will dramatically improve local facilities for people with osteoporosis and at risk of fragility fracture.

“We are delighted by the commitment of the NHS staff in striving to prevent unnecessary fractures due to osteoporosis in Plymouth and the surrounding areas.”

Plaques were unveiled by Her Royal Highness to commemorate the opening of both the Healthy Bones Service and the mobile scanning unit.

Notes to Editors:

*Currently only 16% of the number of scans, in theory, should be required each year for the population are being carried out. It is anticipated, that with the new scanning service in place, more than 6,000 scans each year will be provided by 2011. This is particularly important because the South West has the oldest population structure of all the regions in England and the rate of hip fracture for people aged over 65 years in Devon and Cornwall is more than twice the national average.

• In the UK, one in two women and one in five men over the age of 50 will break a bone mainly because of osteoporosis.
• It is estimated that there are currently three million people with osteoporosis in the UK.
• Osteoporosis costs the NHS and government £2.3 billion a year – that’s £6 million a day.
• There are about 230,000 osteoporotic fractures every year.
• 1,150 people are dying every month in the UK as a result of hip fractures.
• The lifetime risk of fracture in women at age 50 is greater than the risk of breast cancer or cardiovascular disease.
• Osteoporosis is the fragile bone disease.  Our bones are made of a thick outer shell and a strong inner mesh, which looks like a honeycomb of bony struts.  When some of these struts become thin or break, causing the bone to become more fragile and prone to fracture, this is referred to as osteoporosis.