Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help tackle rising liver disease deaths in deprived coastal areas.

We are taking steps to identify those who are drinking at a level that places them at risk of alcohol-related liver disease, to increase the earlier detection of liver disease in those at risk. During NHS Health Checks information on alcohol consumption and body mass index is used to support people to make healthier choices which can help to prevent liver disease.

Additional treatment and recovery funding, made available through the new drug strategy, can be used to increase capacity for screening for liver fibrosis in treatment settings and to establish effective referral pathways with hepatology. This includes a number of deprived coastal areas that were allocated the extra funding in the first phase of a three-year investment programme as areas of highest need.

In the National Health Service the earlier detection of alcohol-related liver disease in secondary care settings is currently being incentivised through a Commissioning for Quality and Innovation indicator applicable to acute and mental health trusts across England. In addition, the National Cancer Programme is working to detect more hepatocellular carcinomas at an early stage as part of the NHS Long Term Plan ambition to diagnose 75% cancers at an early stage by 2028.