About Community Liver Checks
Around 6,100 people are diagnosed with liver cancer each year. However, instances of liver cancer have increased by 50% over the past decade and are expected to continue to rise.
Existing evidence suggests only a third to a half of liver cancers are currently diagnosed at an early stage, either stage one or two.
People diagnosed with significant fibrosis, or scarring of the liver, are referred directly to liver cancer surveillance pathways, which aims to detect the commonest form of primary liver cancer (hepatocellular cancer) at a curable or treatable stage.
The Project
The Community Liver Health Checks Project is focused on raising awareness of liver health to the public and what actions can be taken to improve liver health.
It aims to support early detection and diagnosis of liver cancer by identifying and referring those at high risk onto liver surveillance pathways.
In West Yorkshire, liver health checks are being offered on our mobile clinic vehicle, which goes out into the community offering fibroscans to the public, community groups and their members, high risk groups at addiction services, and GP practices.
Our mobile clinic vehicle will be visiting areas within the community throughout the project. At open events, the public are encouraged to request a check where they will be booked in to see a nurse and have their liver scanned.
Liver scan criteria:
Community liver health checks (CLHC) are open to the public who meet one or more of the criteria outlined below:
- You may have previously had or been at risk of Hepatitis B or C
- You consume more than 14 units of alcohol a week
- You are 50 years old and over with Type 2 diabetes
- You are 50 years old and over with a body mass index of >30 BMI or >27 BMI for some people depending on their ethnic background
Calculate your body mass index (BMI) for adults – NHS
You will be asked these questions prior to being offered a scan of your liver by the CLHC team.
If you have had a liver scan in the last 12 months you will not be eligible for a scan on this occasion.
Any patient who has a positive scan will be referred to one of our local hospitals for further investigations.
