Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what steps his Department is taking to support the early identification of liver disease.

Public Health England (PHE) has a comprehensive range of action aimed at reducing the incidence and mortality from liver disease. It monitors the incidence, mortality and outcomes of treatment for liver disease and the risk factors: alcohol obesity and hepatitis B and C. PHE has a wide range of action to tackle unhealthy alcohol consumption, obesity and viral hepatitis through strengthening local action, promoting healthy choices, and giving appropriate information to support healthier lives.

In response to the All Party Parliamentary Hepatology Group report PHE has committed to producing a PHE Liver Disease Framework. This will focus on public health action to tackle risk factors for liver disease and inequalities in relation to liver disease. Work has already begun to bring together expertise within PHE on the major risk factors for liver disease (alcohol, hepatitis B and C and obesity), data on liver disease and its risk factors and on death and dying from liver disease. PHE has also issued liver profiles to each local authority area, which include information about hepatitis C, as well as modelling tools to assist local commissioners in establishing need at local level. Many of the actions to tackle the major risk factors require a coordinated approach between PHE and NHS England.

NHS England is responsible for delivering improvements in outcomes against the NHS Mandate and in line with the NHS Outcomes Framework. NHS England is adopting a broad strategy for delivering improvements in relation to premature mortality, working with commissioners and PHE to support clinical commissioning groups in understanding where local challenges lie and in identifying the evidence in relation to the priorities for reducing mortality at a national level.