Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure effective implementation of liver disease and cirrhosis assessments in routine NHS health checks in England.

In line with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s recommendations, NHS Health Check guidance advises that individuals whose alcohol consumption puts them at higher risk should be referred for a cirrhosis assessment.

The NHS Health Check includes an assessment of an individual’s alcohol consumption using AUDIT-C. Depending on the outcome of the assessment, support is given to access behavioural and clinical interventions as well as follow on tests for those individuals whose alcohol consumption is identified as high risk.