Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of including liver disease assessments in NHS health checks for people aged 40 and over.
Answered by James Morris
During a NHS Health Check, the alcohol use disorder identification test (AUDIT) is used to assess alcohol consumption. The national guidance for the NHS Health Check states that individuals with an AUDIT score of 16 or more should be referred for a liver disease assessment. The 2021 evidence-based review of the NHS Health Check programme recognised the benefit of including increasingly common conditions, such as mental and musculoskeletal ill-health. There are no current plans to include liver disease assessments in the NHS Health Check programme.
Asked by: Margaret Ferrier (Independent - Rutherglen and Hamilton West)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the impact of late presentation and diagnosis of liver disease on the incidence of hepatocellular carcinoma.
Answered by James Morris
No specific assessment has been made. We would expect general practitioners to use professional judgement in diagnosing liver disease and refer patients as appropriate.
Between 2015 and 2020, hepatitis C-related mortality from end stage liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma has reduced by 20%. NHS England’s cancer programme is working with the hepatitis C elimination programme to deliver 11 community liver health check pilots. These pilots aim to support earlier detection and diagnosis of liver cancer by identifying and referring people with cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis into a liver surveillance pathway.