Data use register - southwestsde-nhs-uk

Project title	Alright My Liver: The impact of early assessment of chronic liver disease in at-risk populations on diagnosis rates in South West England
Lay summary	Chronic liver disease (CLD) is a serious and growing problem in the UK. It is now one of the leading causes of death in people aged 35–49. Many people do not know they have liver disease until they become very unwell and are admitted to hospital as an emergency, when the risk of death is much higher. People experiencing deprivation are especially affected and are much more likely to die early from liver disease. Liver disease can often be slowed down, improved, or even reversed if it is found early. For example: Cutting down or stopping alcohol can slow alcohol-related liver disease Losing weight and controlling diabetes can improve fatty liver disease Medications can control or cure hepatitis B and C Early diagnosis allows doctors to give medicines that reduce serious complications like internal bleeding Patients can be closely monitored for liver cancer, which if diagnosed early enough can usually be treated To address this problem, NHS England set up Community Liver Health Checks in 2022. These are outreach services that offer liver scans in community settings rather than waiting for people to come to hospital. One of these pilots is called Alright My Liver?, which operates in Bristol and the surrounding region. It focuses on reaching people who find it hard to access healthcare and who are at highest risk of liver disease. At these community events, people with risk factors (such as heavy alcohol use, diabetes, obesity, or past drug use) are offered a simple, painless liver scan. They also receive advice on how to protect their liver. People with concerning results are followed up quickly with further tests and specialist care. So far, over 8,000 people have been screened, and early signs suggest many participants have reduced their alcohol intake and engaged well with care. This intervention is aligned with the 2025 NHS 10 year plan, where early diagnosis moves from sickness to prevention and community delivery moves from hospital to community. This study aims to find out whether the Alright My Liver? service has increased the number of people diagnosed with liver disease, or whether these diagnoses would have been made following usual practice. The statistical method being used is called a controlled interrupted time series analysis. To do this, the researchers wish to look at the number of new diagnoses of CLD made over a 6 year period, before and after the introduction of Alright My Liver? in 2022. This information can be identified from GP records and analysed without any identifying personal information. These rates will be compared with data from North Devon (where no similar service exists) to see if any changes in the rate of diagnoses can be attributed to the presence of the service. Only anonymous, grouped data will be used—no individual patients will be identified. The study will help determine whether taking liver health checks into the community leads to earlier diagnosis of liver disease and will take 6 months to complete. This information is likely to impact the funding of similar services in the future locally and nationally.
Public benefit statement	Chronic liver disease is an important and increasing cause of suffering and premature death in British adults. Therefore, a better understanding of approaches to reducing this burden is in the public interest. This study will help to evidence the impact of a community liver health check pilot, which will be fed back to health service commissioners. Regardless of the outcome of the study, this should lead to commissioners being able to make decisions on how to focus spending, which is beneficial for everyone in England. If the study evidences that the intervention is successful, then more people, including those who find it harder to access services and may be at risk of chronic liver disease, will benefit from cost effective, non-invasive early screening in the community. If the study evidences that the intervention is equally successful as current practice, then commissioners will be able to make commissioning decisions based on service cost and patient preferences. If the study evidences that the intervention is less successful than current practice, then commissioners in BNSSG can decide to withdraw the service.
Unique identifier of the project	SDE_ SW_PROJ_65
Legal name of contracting organisation	University of Bristol
Date of countersigned contract	Not applicable
Health research classification system (HRCS) category	Generic health relevance
Current project status	Live - approval recommended by Data Access Committee
Multiple-SDE project indicator	No
Is SDE the lead SDE in this project?	Not applicable
Name of SDE parties	Not applicable
Further information	https://www.uhbristol.nhs.uk/AlrightMyLiver