Dear constituent,

Thank you for contacting me about the state of liver disease services across the country.

I sympathise profoundly with anyone who is affected by liver disease and I pay tribute to the British Liver Trust for raising awareness of this important issue and its tireless campaigning to improve patient outcomes.

Early detection is vital: 90% of liver disease is preventable and, in many cases, it is reversible. Yet symptoms often only appear once damage has progressed. Three-quarters of people in the UK are currently diagnosed when it is too late for effective intervention or treatment, and one in four people diagnosed late in hospital sadly die within a couple of months.

I was concerned by British Liver Trust research published in August, which found that most health services across England have little or no formal structures in place for detecting and managing liver disease, with a lack of effective patient pathways.

All patients must receive effective and timely diagnosis, referral, and treatment. I agree with you that we must end the postcode lottery in liver care to ensure everyone gets the best possible care, no matter where they live.

The Government said the NHS is working to improve care for patients with all types of liver disease. This includes the development of liver networks across England to enable quicker access to specialised liver services, as well as providing clinical advice on disease prevention.

While welcome, I remain concerned that years of NHS underfunding, cuts and understaffing has weakened our health service and left it exposed as the pandemic hit. As a result, waiting lists now stand at a record six million and over 312,000 patients are waiting more than a year. Behind these saddening figures are people that have not been diagnosed who should have been and patients waiting anxiously to begin treatment.

The Government has outlined additional funding to address waiting lists, yet it has refused to guarantee that it will be sufficient to clear NHS backlogs. Its decision to raise taxes to pay for care will also unfairly hit working households. Meanwhile, there is still no plan to improve the quality of patient care, or to address the chronic staff shortages across the system.

We need a credible strategy to address NHS backlogs, transform diagnostics and support liver services. This must include a plan to recruit and strengthen the NHS workforce.

Thank you once again for contacting me about this issue.

Yours sincerely, 

Peter Dowd MP