Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health, what assessment has been made of the causes of regional variation in liver disease outcomes in England.

Public Health England (PHE) has developed and publishes liver disease profiles for all local authorities in England. The profiles provide support to local areas to understand liver disease and its risk factors in their area. They present key local statistics and highlight questions to ask locally about current action to prevent liver disease.

The Local Authority Liver Disease Profiles demonstrate geographical variation in the main risk factors: alcohol, obesity, hepatitis B and C which explain some of the regional and local authority variations in outcome. Experts at PHE in these three areas regularly review these statistics and the evidence for intervention. The profiles demonstrate that there are widespread opportunities to reduce mortality from liver disease prevention.

PHE is also updating the 2013 NHS Atlas of Variation in Healthcare for People with Liver Disease highlighting variations in risk factors, health services and outcomes.