Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to take steps to (a) roll out intelligent liver function testing nationally and (b) help ensure that Integrated Care systems implement pathways for early detection of liver disease.

The Government is working with the National Health Service to support earlier diagnosis of liver disease and the identification of patients at risk. This includes plans agreed as part of the £2.3 billion of diagnostics transformation programme funding, to upgrade laboratory digital capabilities to ensure that labs across the country have the capability required to offer Intelligent Liver Function Tests.

Over the coming year, NHS England is due to pilot a new diagnostic pathway for liver disease, which will include fibrosis scanning in community diagnostic centres. The Government looks forward to seeing the results of that pilot.