Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps with NHS England to help improve testing facilities for suspected liver disease in (a) rural and (b) deprived areas.

Early detection of liver disease, including in rural and deprived areas, is vital to enable interventions and encourage behavioural change that can potentially lead to recovery. Liver disease is also one of the primary risk factors for liver cancer.

NHS England is ensuring that National Health Service laboratories across the country receive the upgrades to laboratory digital capabilities required to offer Intelligent Liver Function Tests, which are effective at quickly identifying patients at high risk of liver disease and cirrhosis. We will work with the NHS to further support investment into pathology laboratories and the development of national early diagnosis pathways.

The Community Liver Health Check programme is delivering Fibroscans and lifestyle advice in the community, from mobile units across many local areas, to identify people at high risk of liver cancer, targeting drug and alcohol service users, homeless people, and people with type 2 diabetes, among others. As of the end of June 2024, the programme has delivered over 61,000 Fibroscans and referred over 4,500 people into liver ultrasound surveillance every six months.

The primary care case finding programme, which uses primary care records to identify patients at high risk of cirrhosis and offer them blood tests and Fibroscans, began in 12 primary care networks in January 2024. As of the end of June 2024, the pilot had tested over 8,900 patients, and referred 142 into liver ultrasound surveillance every six months.

People from deprived backgrounds are more at risk of liver disease and liver cancer, and these programmes specifically target those with the highest risk, to identify the most in need patients first.