Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of establishing permanent Early Liver Disease Diagnostics centres to deliver non-invasive diagnoses (a) in Oxfordshire and (b) nationally.

Early detection of liver disease is vital to enable interventions and encourage behavioural change that can potentially lead to recovery. The Community Liver Health Check programme was established in June 2022 and aims to support the early detection and diagnosis of liver cancer, including hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC), the most common liver cancer. As of the end of July 2024, the programme has delivered over 66,000 FibroScans and referred over 4,700 people into six-monthly liver ultrasound surveillance. Across Thames Valley, which includes Oxfordshire, 1,430 FibroScans have been delivered, with 5% of people identified to be at risk of HCC.

The Community Liver Health Check programme has an evaluation underway, with the final report due in Spring 2025. The results of the evaluation will be considered by NHS England when deciding on next steps.

The Government has not made an assessment of the potential merits of establishing diagnostic centres specifically for the early diagnosis of liver disease, for either Oxfordshire or nationally. However, the National Health Service is continuing to roll out Community Diagnostic Centres (CDCs), many of which will have testing capability to support the early diagnosis of liver disease, including some CDCs that offer FibroScans. There are currently plans for 14 CDCs to offer FibroScans by the end of this financial year, 10 of which are currently providing the test, and have delivered 2,144 tests in 2024/25.