Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to support the detection of liver disease in Washington and Sunderland West constituency.

The Northern Cancer Alliance (NCA) is supporting services to enable the early detection of liver disease across the North East and North Cumbria (NENC) Integrated Care Board (ICB), including in the Washington and Sunderland West Constituency. The focus of work has been to support liver services across NENC to invite more than 80% of patients with cirrhosis, a type of liver disease, to monthly ultrasound surveillance. For 2024/25, the NCA has invested just over £200,000 into trusts across NENC to help improve their monitoring systems for cirrhosis patients.

The NENC ICB is also enrolled in a Community Liver Health Check pilot in Newcastle, being delivered by the system’s Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks. This will provide FibroScans in one stop community clinics where patients have relevant blood testing, liver ultrasound, and other investigations, as required. The pilot has expanded into North Tyneside and when resources allow, they intend to develop additional clinics across the area.